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