Description of the attraction
Museum of Naive Art - Museum of Fine Arts in Zagreb, dedicated to the work of primitivist artists of the 20th century. The museum fund consists of more than 1,850 works of art, among which paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints are made mainly by Croats, but there are also works by other famous international artists of this genre.
In 1952 the Peasant Art Gallery was founded in Zagreb. In 1956, it was known as the Gallery of Primitive Art and was part of the Municipal Gallery (now the Gallery of Contemporary Art). Since 1994, in accordance with the decision of the Croatian Parliament, the museum is called the Croatian Museum of Naive Art. From the very beginning, the museum has been working according to strict museological principles and is considered the world's first Museum of Naive Art. Since 2002, the museum has focused on reaching schools and students and intensifying education each year ahead of International Museum Day.
Naive, or primitive, primitive art is an independent segment of 20th century art. Naive art appeared in Croatia in the early 30s. Naive art was originally associated with the work of peasants and workers, of which the most successful eventually became professional artists. Naive art includes the work of artists who are somehow self-taught, who have not undergone special training, but who have achieved a high level of art. A recognizable individual style and poetic nature distinguishes primitivist artists from “amateurs”. The gaze of a primitivist artist usually reveals unusual proportions and certain illogical forms and spaces. In this way, artists express their free creative imagination by analogy with other art movements of the 20th century, such as symbolism, expressionism, cubism and surrealism.
In Croatia, naive art is also seen as a democratic movement that proves that regardless of formal education, anyone can create a real work of art. Common themes of works include such as "joy of life", "lost childhood", "interesting in the world", etc.
The collection presented by the museum focuses on Croatian artists of the famous Khlebinsk school, as well as some independent artists. The collection includes works dating back to 1930. The renowned Ivan Generalić was one of the first naive artists in Croatia to develop a distinctive creative style and achieve a high professional level in his art. The works of the 1930s are dominated by social issues, while later works show idealistic landscapes that give the imagination more scope than images of just open space. Works of the second generation of the Khlebinsky School of Artists (50-60) include burlesque and grotesque figures, as well as works inspired by biblical themes with a strong use of colors.
The museum also organizes special thematic exhibitions focusing on individual artists or to highlight certain aspects of naive art.
The Gallery of Modern Art exhibits the most complete collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings of the 19th and 20th centuries by Croatian artists. The collection includes about 10,000 works of art, which have been kept since 1934 in the historic Vranyčany Palace in the center of Zagreb.
The Gallery of Contemporary Art, while originally national for Croatian art, dates from early 1900, when it was founded by an art society from paintings and sculptures acquired by its members, as well as donations from Bishop Strossmayer. In 1905, 3 works were purchased for the fund of the future Gallery of Contemporary Art. The collection grew gradually and until 1914 was presented only to interested parties. As the collection expanded, the gallery moved to its current building in 1934. The Vranychany Palace was built in 1882. The glorious receptions of the past have been replaced by the contemplative atmosphere of the Gallery of Modern Art.
The complete reconstruction of the palace took place from 1993 to 2005, when the current exposition was presented to the public. The two floors of the palace have become a modernly equipped gallery, presenting visitors with a permanent collection of Croatian contemporary paintings and sculptures. In completely renovated historic rooms, the gallery presents “200 Years of Croatian Fine Art (1800-2000)”, a representative sample of 650-700 of the best painters, sculptors and medal makers. The Gallery of Contemporary Art has become the most famous and complete museum of Croatian contemporary art. Since 1960, it has hosted retrospective and monographic exhibitions of works by renowned Croatian artists, as well as thematic exhibitions of Croatian and European contemporary art.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Gallery of Modern Art holds special exhibitions. In 2009, the multi-sensory Tactile Gallery was established with the aim of helping visually impaired visitors experience the main features of Croatian contemporary art through touch and sound.
In 2010, a new multimedia exhibition was opened titled “Urban Iconography in Croatian Art from the First Half of the 20th Century”. The viewer is presented with the motive of the city in drawing, painting, graphics, art photography: on posters and in films, in literature and music. The exposition includes over 150 works.
