Category: Archive-NMMU-in-guests

Sea Breeze – Nudes from the NMMA Collection
Artmark Gallery

Concept: Branko Franceschi
Curators: Tatijana Gareljić, Željko Marciuš

The aim of the exhibition titled Sea Breeze, featuring a selection of nudes from the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art (NMMA), is to evoke the freshness of the seaside in the sweltering urban environment of the continent. Beaches provide a setting where we experience liberation from the constraints of clothing, and the body becomes exposed to everyone’s gaze. Such corporeality, once proscribed by traditional moral canons, is now widely embraced in the modern era. Prior to this, in Western civilisation after Antiquity, the culture of the body was tolerated and practiced only in art studios for the purposes of practice or the creation of artworks intended for the intimate atmosphere of bedchambers or heroic historical compositions.
The exhibition encompasses works created from 1907 to the present, executed in the mediums of oil on canvas, bronze and marble, and black-and-white photography. With two exceptions, the exhibition is arranged chronologically, and like the two previous exhibitions of artworks from the NMMA collection at the Artmark Gallery, it is designed to showcase the richness and diversity of national artistic production and the museum’s collection. The first chronological deviation is the placement of the painting The Time (is Now) by Robert Auer from 1925 among artworks executed in the previous decade, due to the combination of anachronistic visuality and the stylisation of the model in accordance with the fashion and decadent sensuality of times of its execution. The second deviation is the placement of the photograph Emil and Eva by Sandra Vitaljić from 1999 in the Gallery corridor, which contextualises the exhibition theme within the visual discourse close to contemporary everyday mass media communication.
The selection of artworks represents the rapid evolution of interpreting the motif of the human body during the twentieth century. It begins with academic studies of the nude, predominantly female, imbued with varying degrees of sensuality, leaning towards verism in the early 20th century. Progressing through liberated forms inspired by Cubist and Expressionist explorations in the interwar years, it evolves into portrayals of existential angst and neoclassical tendencies in the post-World War II period. Besides reinterpreting the motif of Adam and Eve as the only permissible nude in the Middle Ages, the aforementioned photograph by Sandra Vitaljić represents an affirmation of the female gaze in contrast to the entire history dominated by the male gaze, particularly concerning the theme of the nude, as a pivotal change in the visual culture of the twentieth century.

Artists: Bela Čikoš Sesija, Ivan Meštrović, Ivan Tišov, Juraj Škarpa, Miroslav Kraljević, Petar Dobrović, Robert Auer, Robert Frangeš Mihanović, Vladimir Becić, Vlaho Bukovac, Frane Cota, Ivo Kerdić, Ivo Režek, Jozo Turkalj, Marijan Trepše, Marino Tartaglia, Mila Wod, Milivoj Uzelac, Omer Mujadžić, Sava Šumanović, Frano Kršinić, Kosta Angeli Radovani, Ljubo Ivančić, Raul Goldoni, Slavko Kopač, Slavko Šohaj, Vjekoslav Rukljač, Željko Hegedušić, Ivan Sabolić, Josip Klarica, Sandra Vitaljić

Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

The exhibition Otherness from the National Museum of Modern Art’s holdings at the Kortil Gallery in Rijeka

The exhibition Otherness https://hkd- rijeka.hr/dogadanja/drugost-izlozba-iz-zbirke-nacionalnog-muzeja-moderne-umjenosti/ according to author's conception of NMMU curator Marta Radman, from June 12 to September 14, will be presented to the Rijeka cultural public at the Kortil Gallery. The exhibition will show thirty selected works from the holdings of the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb in different media (painting, sculpture, photography, video and art installation). On this occasion attempts will be made to challenge the dominant discourse and offer space to art and authors who have historically been marginalized, encouraging more inclusive a dialogue about the complexity of identity, (re)presentation and power dynamics in the world of art. Through the selection of our leading authors, the exhibition deals with the concept of otherness, offering a new perspective and some of the possible readings of the exhibited works created in the period from the second half of the 19th century until today, exposing and reading social preconditions, self-censorship of artists, and the importance of gender and sexual identity in creative expression, through the issues of feminism, decolonization, and gender and LGBTQI+ theory.
Kortil Gallery organizes this exhibition, which will among others, include the works of Miroslav Kraljević, Vlaho Bukovac, Milivoj Uzelc, Vera Fischer, Josip Račić, Vlasta Delimar, Nasta Rojc and Ksenia Kantoci, in collaboration with the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb (which, due to the complete reconstruction of the Vranyczany-Dobrinović Palace after the 2020 earthquake, closed until 2026).

On the occasion of the closing of the exhibition, on September 9 at 8 p.m., a play by actress Vesna Stilinović and performer Vlasta Delimar entitled "According to dignity (aging)" will be performed on the stage of the HKD.

 

Photo: Tanja Kanzir

Exhibition Dubravka Lošić, The Silkworm’s Cocoon (Punćela)
collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Modern Art

DUBRAVKA LOŠIĆ
The Silkworm’s Cocoon (Punćela)
Opening: 8 June at 12 p.m.
Exhibition curator: Branko Franceschi
The exhibition titled Punćela presents Dubravka Lošić’s unique position as a visual artist who blends the traditional concept of easel painting with contemporary creative practices such as installation, assemblage, and the use of unconventional materials. Dubravka Lošić’s distinctive style was shaped during the 1980s, her formative years, and a time marked by a significant expansion in the visual arts toward greater freedom of content, form, and the contamination of disciplines, a creative paradigm established by the theory and practice of post-modernist aesthetics and artistic practice.

Alongside portraits painted between 2004 and 2012, the exhibition also features a selection from the cycles: Imago anima (2012–2013), Sharks (1986–2013), Dream Catchers (2015), Lapad (2016), Rain Paris (2018), Wind Catchers (2018), Alba Albula (2019), as well as a selection from the recent cycle Tondo (2020–2022).

The title Punćela, meaning “silkworm’s cocoon” in the Konavle dialect, was selected as the poetic framework for this presentation. This diverse selection is unified by the artist’s tendency to conceal the initial motif of the composition, which over the years and through various metamorphoses traced by the exhibition, has developed like a butterfly from a larva into a self-sufficient aesthetic fact that summarises all the artist’s visual and existential experiences. (from the essay by Branko Franceschi)

The exhibition layout, conceived by Dubravka Lošić and Branko Franceschi, is envisioned as a series of interconnected ambient situations, aligning optimally with the exhibition galleries and the reference cycles.

Dubravka Lošić was educated in the mid-1980s under the traditional curriculum of the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, in the class of Professor Ferdinand Kulmer. Her immersion in contemporary art developments was immediately apparent, and the painting-object, in greater or lesser degrees, has remained a focal area of her practice, whether in the narrowly understood visual arts or in the scenographic oeuvre derived from it. Following an established pattern, an artistic personality develops within general parameters by incorporating accumulated personal experiences and an individual perception of the world, shaped by a combination of cultural and environmental influences. The Split exhibition features a selection from Dubravka Lošić’s oeuvre, affirming her as a unique and incomparable artist within the Croatian art scene. She lives and works in Dubrovnik.

The exhibition remains open until 28 July 2024.
The exhibition was realised through collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Modern Art.
The exhibition has been made possible with financial support of the City of Split and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.

Images: Dubravka Lošić, Tondo, foto Veronica Arevalo / Dubravka Lošić, Alba Abula, foto Veronica Arevalo / Dubravka Lošić, Lovci na vjetar, foto Damir Fabijanić / Dubravka Lošić, Pariz (detalj), foto Damir Fabijanić / Dubravka Lošić, morske psine, foto Damir Fabijanić

https://www.galum.hr/izlozbe/izlozba/1798/

Joško Eterović, Secundum minimum
exhibition organised in collaboration between Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka and National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb

     

Joško Eterović:
Secundum minimum
26 March 2024 – 2 June 2024

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Modern Art are organizing a comprehensive monographic exhibition celebrating Joško Eterović, one of the most renowned artists of Rijeka and Croatia.
Nearly twenty years since his last exhibition at the MMSU (From a Disrupted Line to Mutations 1970 – 2006), Joško Eterović returns with Secundum minimum, the exhibition that will debut his latest series of paintings, created between 2019 and 2024. Secundum minimum marks Eterović's return to the aesthetics of minimalism and optical art. However, to provide context within this expansive body of work, along with his recent works, the exhibition features an introductory section showing pieces where he periodically expressed an inclination towards reductionism. The compositions center around the interplay of basic geometric shapes, such as circles and ellipses, and they are dynamized with sophisticated mid-tones of complementary colors. The painting concept emphasizes the influence and legacy of optical art reduced to a minimalist interaction of three elements: color, line and shape. The precision and clarity of Eterović's new works, grounded in the interaction of color planes, forms and optical interplay, reflect a sustained and authentic artistic curiosity and consistency of an artistic research that has persisted over fifty years, transcending the shifting artistic trends. Amidst the prevalence of digital media in visual culture and the prominence of figurative painting in visual arts, Eterović’s post-minimalist and neo-geometric constellations represent a new momentum and reaffirm the relevance of neo-constructivism in contemporary art and culture.

The exhibition opens on Tuesday, 26 March, at 7 p.m. and will continue until 2 June, encompassing all exhibition spaces in the Museum. The exhibition is curated by Branko Franceschi, the NMMU director.
The exhibition is funded by the City of Rijeka, the Croatian Ministry of Culture, Primorsko - Goranska county and City Office for Culture, International
Relations and Civil Society of the City of Zagreb.

Images: (1)  Joško Eterović's Secundum minimum exhibition poster at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka  (2,3,4) works by Joško Eterović from the Secundum minimum series, 2022 - 2023 / acrylic on canvas / Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

National Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition “Revealed Otherness” at the Art Gallery of the City Museum in Križevci

“Revealed Otherness” is the title of the National Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition in the Art Gallery of the City Museum in Križevci. It is one in a series of NMMA’s visiting exhibitions, which the Museum will organise in collaboration with other museum and gallery institutions in Croatia and beyond until the completion of the comprehensive renovation of its headquarters, the Vranyczany-Dobrinović Palace.
Conceived by the NMMA curator Marta Radman, the exhibition features 26 selected works from the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art and the City Museum of Križevci, encompassing paintings, sculptures, photography, photocollage, installations, tapestries, and objects.
Artists featured in the exhibition include: NMMA: Miroslav Kraljević, Goranka Vrus Murtić, Ivan Sabolić, Anabel Zanze, Oscar Nemon, Valerije Michieli, Zvonimir Lončarić, Vera Fischer, Dimitrije Popović, Milivoj Uzelac, Sava Šumanović, Nives Kavurić – Kurtović, Oskar Herman, Neda Miranda Blažević – Krietzman, Ana Opalić, Sonja Kovačić – Tajčević, Anka Krizmanić, Vlasta Delimar, Renata Vranyczany Azinović, Ivan Kožarić, Milena Lah, Žanić Vlasta. CMK: Jelka Struppi-Wolkensperg, Nasta Rojc, Paula Kiepach-Nestoroff, Peppino Wieternik.

The exhibition, which can be viewed at the Art Gallery in Križevci until 16 March, is accompanied by a text by Marta Radman, who writes: “(...) In shaping the narrative for this exhibition, the aim is to avoid sensationalist exaggeration of meaning or attribution of importance where it does not exist. The intention is to offer some of the possible interpretations of the presented works. Our perception is shaped by what we have learned to recognise, so it is crucial to constantly question and broaden our perspective. By doing so, we can discover alternative interpretations that enrich our understanding of art within different cultural frameworks, surpassing mere aesthetic appreciation. By updating historical fragments of otherness, the exhibition challenges the limitations imposed by the modernist paradigm of art history and calls for critical reflection. The aim is to present the phenomenon of otherness within the cultural production represented in the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, starting from the second half of the 19th century onwards. By presenting 22 works from the NMMA Collection alongside four works from the CMK Collection, we uncover and examine the social preconditions, self-censorship of artists, and the significance of gender and sexual identity in creative expression, addressing feminist issues, decolonization, and gender and LGBTQI+ theories. (…)

Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

Magical Landscapes – selected works from the holdings of the National Museum of Modern Art at the Artmark gallery

With the exhibition Magical Landscapes at the Artmark Gallery, the National Museum of Modern Art continues its collaboration with the Romanian auction house Artmark. Artmark’s gallery activities in Croatia began in the summer of 2023 with the presentation of 26 iconic works from the NMMA collection at the exhibition Summer Prelude. The selected works, displayed in chronological order, showcased the development of Croatian modern art from the academic period in the late 19th century to the high modernism of the 1960s.

The exhibition Magical Landscapes is also based on the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art and presents the chronological development of the landscape genre within the scope of the Museum’s collection. Twenty-six paintings chosen for the display – created between 1856 and 1980, that is, from Hugo Conrad von Hötzendorf to Boris Dogan – were selected by the museum consultants Lada Bošnjak Velagić, head of the Collection of 20th-century painting from 1918 to 1945, and Željko Marciuš, head of the Collection of painting from 1945. They jointly curate this guest project for the NMMA. The Zagreb cultural audience will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition at the Artmark Gallery from 24 January to 25 February.

Artists: Oton Iveković, Hugo Conrad von Hötzendorf, Ferdo Kovačević, Mato Celestin Medović, Gabriel Jurkić, Ignjat Job, Vladimir Becić, Emanuel Vidović, Karlo Mijić, Jerolim Miše, Oton Postružnik, Sava Šumanović, Vladimir Varlaj, Petar Dobrović, Ljubo Babić, Milivoj Uzelac, Marijan Trepše, Zlatko Prica, Frano Šimunović, Oton Gliha, Boris Dogan, Zlatko Keser, Slavko Kopač, Ivan Rabuzin, Oskar Herman

Reproduction: Oskar Herman, Landscape with Three Trees, 1963/ oil on canvas / MG-2531 / Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

The ongoing museum-education project of the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb “10 Schools – 10 Artists”, 2023

The National Museum of Modern Art is organising its nineteenth consecutive all-day museum-education project “10 Schools – 10 Artists” on 15 December at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, because the museum is currently displaced from the Vranyczany-Dobrinović Palace, its home since 1934, due to a comprehensive renovation.
The project, conceived by Ivana Rončević Elezović, PhD, museum consultant and head of the Collection of 19th/20th Century Painting from 1898 to 1918, continues to involve high schools from various parts of Croatia, just as before. This year, the participating schools include: Classical Grammar School Zagreb, Second Grammar School Varaždin, Matija Antun Reljković Grammar School from Vinkovci, High School Valpovo, Vladimir Nazor Grammar School Zadar, XVI Grammar School Zagreb, I Grammar School Osijek, IV Grammar School “Marko Marulić” Split, Grammar School Dubrovnik, and the First Croatian Grammar School in Rijeka. The project’s theme is related to the current exhibition dedicated to Ivan Meštrović at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, and is explored in working groups composed of three students and a professor-mentor. This approach allows students to acquire new knowledge and develop a fresh perspective on the subject matter they are studying, as well as on the museum institution. They become researchers and presenters of their project.
The professional collaborator on this year's project is Liljana Velkovski, museum pedagogue of the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery.

The National Museum of Modern Art has loaned two of Ivan Meštrović’s sculptures, Portrait of Ruža Meštrović from 1915 and Angel with a Flute from 1918 for the exhibition staged at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery commemorating the 140th anniversary of the sculptor’s birth. Dajana Vlaisavljević, a museum consultant and head of the 19th-century Painting Collection (until the “Croatian Salon” in 1898), delved into the work of Ivan Meštrović through the prism of his relationship with his wife Ruža, who was also an artist.

List of themes and schools:
Classical Grammar School, Zagreb
theme: Ivan Meštrović’s public monuments

Second Grammar School Varaždin
theme: Meštrović in the NMMA collection, Zagreb

Matija Antun Reljković Grammar School, Vinkovci
theme: Ruža and Ivan Meštrović

High School Valpovo
theme: Sacred in the work of Ivan Meštrović

Vladimir Nazor Grammar School, Zadar
theme: Motif of woman and mother in Meštrović’s oeuvre

XVI Grammar School, Zagreb
theme: Meštrović and Rodin

I Grammar School, Osijek
theme: Meštrović and Secession

IV Grammar School “Marko Marulić”, Split
theme: Meštrović and the Medulić Association

Grammar School Dubrovnik
theme: Meštrović’s mausoleum of the Račić family (Our Lady of Angels) in Cavtat

First Croatian Grammar School in Rijeka
theme: The significance and role of Ivan Meštrović in Croatian art history

Images: Ivan Meštrović, A Portrait of Ruža Meštrović, 1915/ bronze / MG – 802
Angel with a Flute, 1918 / bronze MG-814

Modern and Contemporary Croatian Prints and Drawings – Selection from the Collection of the National Museum of Modern Art at the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery

   

The selection of artworks for the exhibition at the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery has focused on drawing and printmaking techniques. Most of the works were created using traditional drawing techniques (charcoal, pencil, or ink on paper). When it comes to works in the field of graphic arts, they may best illustrate the role that technology has played in artistic development, as seen in the prevalence of typically modern printmaking techniques (lithography, screen printing, and computer graphics).
Considering that the works displayed at the exhibition were created between 1913 and 2015, it is possible to view this presentation of the museum holdings as a kind of time-lapse representation of developments in art – a representation in which, in fact, the most important aspect is what is least visible: the passage of historical time. – writes Klaudio Štefančić, Senior Curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Head of the Collection of 19th and 20th Century Watercolours, Drawings and Prints, and curator of this exhibitin, in the introduction to the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition Modern and Contemporary Croatian Prints and Drawings - Selection from the Collection of the National Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is a collaborative effort between the National Museum of Modern Art and the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery, that is, the Novi Zagreb Cultural Centre and is on view from 12 October to 31 October. The exhibition at the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery will also be accompanied by an educational program.

Artists showcased at the exhibition: Ivan Tišov,  Sonja Kovačić-Tajčević, Ljubo Babić, Krsto Hegedušić, Marijan Detoni, Drago Ivanišević, Ignjat Job, Edo Murtić, Ferdinand Kulmer, Biserka Baretić, Miroslav Šutej, Nives Kavurić Kurtović, Ivan Picelj, Oton Gliha, Marta Ehrlich, Ivan Lovrenčić, Ante Kuduz, Dubravka Babić, Nina Ivančić, Vlado Martek, Nikola Koydl, Nevenka Arbanas, Tomislav Čeranić, Robert Budor

Since the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb is currently undergoing renovation, museum activities have been focused on presenting the museum’s collections in the spaces of other institutions. At the Novi Zagreb Culture Centre, that is, the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery, the museum is currently presenting a selection of artworks from the Collection of Drawings, Watercolours and Prints.

The Collection of Watercolours, Drawings and Prints includes more than 3,800 museum objects. It was formed after the first major systematisation of museum material in the latter half of the 1960s, when the need arose to add artworks created on paper to the already existing collec-tions of painting and sculpture. It mostly consists of works executed in various drawing tech-niques i.e., watercolours, tempera, gouache and pastels on paper. In terms of sheer numbers, the print category is the second largest in the collection, with the majority of print sheets da-ting from the second half of the 20th century.

The selection of works for the exhibition at the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery has focused on draw-ing and printmaking techniques. Most of the works were created using traditional drawing techniques (charcoal, pencil, or ink on paper). When it comes to works in the field of graphic arts, they may best illustrate the role that technology has played in artistic development, as seen in the prevalence of typically modern printmaking techniques (lithography, screen print-ing, and computer graphics).

Considering that the works displayed at the exhibition were created between 1913 and 2015, it is possible to view this presentation of the museum holdings as a kind of time-lapse represen-tation of developments in art – a representation in which, in fact, the most important aspect is what is least visible: the passage of historical time.

Klaudio Štefančić

Reproductions:
Biserka Baretić, Detachment, 1960. / ink / paper/ 62 x 68 cm / MG-2546
Edo Murtić, Blue verticals, 1958. /linocut in color / 100 x 70 cm / MG-2582
Krsto Hegedušić, Pepek's friends in the afternoon, 1932. / ink/paper / 70 x 50 cm / MG-4132
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

Summer Prelude exhibition
from the National Museum of Modern Art’s collection
at the Artmark Gallery

The National Museum of Modern Art showcases, at the Artmark Gallery www.artmark.hr , the development of Croatian modern art from the late 19thcentury period of Academicism to the High Modernism of the 1960s. The display features 26 iconic works and artists presented in chronological order.
With a collection of 12,000 artworks, the National Museum of Modern Art is one of Croatia’s leading cultural institutions. The NMMU was established in 1905 at the initiative of the Art Society, particularly its then-president Izidor Kršnjavi, as the City Gallery of Modern Paintings. Since 1934, the NMMU has been located in the Vranyczany Palace and is currently closed for structural renovations. The museum’s scope encompasses a sequence of artistic styles from the mid-19th century to the present day, with a focus on the creation of artistic objects in traditional visual disciplines.
Artmark is an auction house based in Bucharest. It was founded in 2008 with the aim of promoting Eastern European art and encouraging cultural exchange and the art market in Romania. In 2022, Artmark expanded its operations by establishing branches in Croatia and Bulgaria.

Artists presented in exhibition display:
Vojin Bakić, Vlaho Bukovac, Ferdo Ćus, Branislav Dešković, Robert Frangeš – Mihanović, Vilko Gecan, Krsto Hegedušić, Leo Junek, Ivan Kožarić, Miroslav Kraljević, Ferdinand Kulmer, Mato Celestin Medović, Dragan Melkus, Petar Pallavicini, Ivan Picelj, Josip Račić, Slava Raškaj, Ivan Rendić, Vjenceslav Richter, Nasta Rojc, Petar Smajić, Milan Steiner, Miroslav Šutej, Milivoj Uzelac, Josip Vaništa, Emanuel Vidović

Images: From the Summer Prelude exhibition display from the National Museum of Modern Art's collection at the Artmark Gallery. Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023

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