President Milanović Visits Retrospective Exhibition “Picelj and Friends“ in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović visited today a retrospective exhibition “Picelj and Friends“ that was held in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Picelj.
Under the expert guidance of exhibition curator Zvonko Maković, and in the company of the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Vesna Meštrić, the director of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists Ivana Andabaka and the representative of Picelj’s legacy Anja Picelj-Kosak, President Milanović visited the exhibition that represents Picelj’s extraordinary and wide-ranging oeuvre. The aim of the exhibition, as stated during the tour, is to present Picelj’s extraordinary work to a wider audience and to emphasize his key role on the international art scene, i.e. to illuminate the innovative contributions and lasting legacy of Ivan Picelj through a retrospective exhibition.
The exhibition “Picelj and Friends” was organized by the Croatian Society of Fine Artists and the Museum of Contemporary Art at the initiative of the artist’s daughter Ana Picelj-Kosak, and it presents all segments of Picelj’s work, from painting and objects to graphic design of posters, book design, catalogues and magazines.
Ivan Picelj (1924-2011) was a leader of abstract art in the 1950s and a member of the EXAT-51 art groups and the New Tendencies movement. His works are included in the holdings of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Sztuki Museum in Łódź.
The exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art displayed the works of Picelj’s friends and contemporaries: Yaacov Agam, Getulio Alviani, Hans Arp, Mihajlo Arsovski, Vojin Bakić, Vladimir Bonačić, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Ivo Kalina, Julije Knifer, Almir Mavignier, François Morellet, Vladimir Kristl, Božidar Rašica, Jesús Rafaela Soto, Aleksandar Srnec and Victor Vasarely.
Accompanying President Milanović in visiting the exhibition was the Special Adviser to the President for Culture Zdravko Zima.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan