Petar Prelog: New Art Meets the Audience

The lecture focuses on key exhibitions in Croatia during the interwar period, with the history of Croatian modern art being interpreted through the history of these exhibitions. Particular attention is directed toward the principal exhibition spaces in Zagreb: the Art Pavillion as a central representative space for larger solo and group shows, and the Ullrich Gallery, a smaller privately-owned gallery, which hosted some of the most important exhibitions of that period. The main characteristics of the Spring Salon (1916–1928), the most important exhibition manifestation in Croatia during that era, are presented, and particularly the exhibitions that were crucial for the promotion of new artistic trends from expressionism to various forms of neo-realism. The exhibitions of the Association of Artists Zemlja, with their broadly designed artistic approach and clearly ideological orientation offering responses to key contemporory social problems, are also analysed. In the conclusion, a short comparative analysis with conditions in Slovenia is presented along with certain significant exhibitions of Slovenian artists in Croatia.
 

The lecture is held in Croatian and is part of the seminar Art Exhibiting in Slovenia, from the Early 19th Century to Today, organized by: Department of Art History of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana and Igor Zabel Association. 

The conversation with Petar Prelog is moderated by Beti Žerovc, head of the seminar Art for Collective Use, Department of Art History of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.

Petar Prelog is an art historian and senior academic researcher at the Institute for Art History in Zagreb. His research focuses on Croatian modern painting in the Central European context, responses to the historical avant-garde in Croatian art, the relation between modern art and national identity, and the history of art history. Prelog has curated a number of exhibitions, among them: Proljetni salon 1916–1928 (Spring Salon 1916–1928 at the Art Pavilion in Zagreb, 2007) and Umjetnost i život su jedno: Udruženje umetnika Zemlja 1929–1935 (Art and Life are One: Association of Artists Zemlja 1929–1935, at the Klovićevi dvori Gallery in Zagreb, 2019). He recieved the Croatian national award for science for the book Hrvatska moderna umjetnost i nacionalni identitet (Croatian Modern Art and National Identity, 2018).