Ars Adriatica, No. 9, 2019.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/ars.2930
A Never-ending Game: Foundation of the Gallery of Modern Art in Rijeka between the Two World Wars
Branko Metzger-Šober
orcid.org/0000-0002-0637-413X
; independent researcher
Abstract
Based on the archival documentation from the interwar period in Rijeka, from 1934 to 1943, and an analysis of the published historical data, the author has presented the series of attempts to establish the Gallery of Modern Art in Rijeka at the time when Rijeka and Kvarner were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, thus becoming its new province. Owing to the initiative of Guido Asveri Bottussi, an agile resident of Milan originating from Rijeka, the idea of founding a Gallery of Modern Art in Rijeka was born, as a very prominent institution that would exhibit works of Italian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. The first holdings of the Gallery were collected through donations made by Italian academics and a donation of three paintings and one sculpture made by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy to support the initiative and set an example for other potential donators. All donated works were first deposited in Milan with Bottussi. Due to Rijeka’s geostrategic position, the act of establishing such an institution became a matter of national interest for Italy, which saw it as a way to spread its culture beyond its borders, to the Kingdom of SHS and other Danubian countries. Started as Bottussi’s private initiative, with time the Gallery would turn into an initiative of Rijeka’s city administration and other state institutions based in Rome. Due to the war circumstances, the artworks donated for the Gallery’s initial collection never reached Rijeka, which now lacked the conditions for its full establishment.
Keywords
Rijeka; Gallery of Modern Art; Guido Asveri Bottussi; Kvarner Provinces; Conservation Department Trieste; donation
Hrčak ID:
231292
URI
Publication date:
24.12.2019.
Visits: 1.776 *