Original scientific paper
Activities of the District Collection Center in Varaždin: Transfer of Paintings from Čalinec Manor
Ivan Ferenčak
; Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
Abstract
With the end of World War II and the establishment of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, a new social and political order emerged. In accordance with the newly enacted legislation, it brought changes to ownership structures, resulting in the redistribution of artworks from private collections to state ownership. The artworks were listed and collected by members of the Commission for Gathering and Protection of Cultural Monuments and Antiquities (KOMZA), which was founded in June 1945. The gathered works were stored in the Land Collection Center in Zagreb, as well as in district collection centers throughout the country. Among them, the center in Varaždin, founded in the summer of 1945, stands out as the first one. However, despite its pioneering role, its activities and organizational structure have never been researched.
This paper examines the operational practices of the District Collection Center in Varaždin based on unpublished archival materials from the State Archives in Varaždin (created between July and December 1945). It outlines the origins and establishment of the Varaždin collection center and provides an insight into the management of artwork and antiquities collection in the Varaždin area. In this context, it highlights the intertwining of responsibilities and powers of the Varaždin District People’s Committee, the District Collection Center in Varaždin and the Varaždin City Museum in the tasks of listing and collecting items.
The coordinated actions of these three institutions are best illustrated by archival materials related to the inventory and collection of artworks from two estates owned by the Pongratz family—the Maruševec castle and Čalinec manor, located only about 15 kilometers west of Varaždin, toward Lepoglava. According to available records, a total of 11 paintings were housed at the Čalinec manor and were relocated in the post-war months. So far, seven of these paintings have been identified in the Gallery of Old and Contemporary Masters at the Varaždin City Museum. These include works dating between the 17th and 19th century created by Dutch, French, German, and Austrian painters.
As earlier documentation did not specify from which of the two estates some of the paintings originated, their previous location has been clarified through an analysis of archival materials. In this regard, the list of paintings from the Čalinec manor, compiled in the summer of 1945, holds significant value. The artworks were listed in situ, with notes on the rooms where they were located. The paintings from both estates were collected a few months later, in October 1945. On those occasions, four records were created, two for Maruševec and two for Čalinec. In addition to these, another undated handwritten list of paintings from Maruševec and Čalinec is preserved in the documentation of the Varaždin City Museum. Through a comparative analysis of these documents, it can be concluded that the latter list served as some kind of an inventory of the Varaždin collection center. This paper interprets the “codes” listed next to the paintings and links them to the markings found on the artworks themselves.
Additionally, special attention has been paid to the earlier provenance of the paintings from the Čalinec manor. By interpreting the markings preserved on the back of the paintings, and by identifying the paintings in published auction catalogs, it has been established that five paintings, currently housed in the Varaždin Gallery of Old and Contemporary Masters, were sold at auctions in Vienna during the 1910s.
The painting "Heroische Landschaft" was offered for sale at the Collection Marquis de Chateaneuf auction organized by Österreichischer Kunstverein in October 1910, where it was described as a significant and authentic work by Nicolas Poussin. The paintings "Die Rast" and "Landschaft mit Rinderherde" were offered at an auction organized by the same auction house at the beginning of April 1913, and less than two weeks later the painting "Schlacht bei Novarra" was presented for sale at Kunstauktionshaus G. Pisko. The fifth painting, "La futie", was traced back to at an auction held in December 1913 that was again organized by Österreichischer Kunstverein.
Auction sales in Vienna indicate that the paintings were not located at the Čalinec manor before the specified dates. In other words, they arrived at the manor—then owned by the Pongratz family for several decades—probably as direct acquisitions by family members in Vienna. Since four paintings were sold in 1913 (that is, as many as three paintings in two weeks), it can be assumed that the interior of the manor was intensively (re)decorated during that year. These acquisitions also provide a foundation for exploring the collecting ambitions of the Pongratz family and their positioning within the circle of buyers active in the Vienna art market, which became a frequent destination for collectors from Croatian regions (particularly from Zagreb) and an important source for importing artwork into Croatian collections in the following decades.
Keywords
Varaždin City Museum – Gallery of Old and Contemporary Masters; Čalinec manor; District Collection Center in Varaždin; provenance research; Commission for Gathering and Protection of Cultural Monuments and Antiquities (KOMZA); painting; Pongratz family; 20th century
Hrčak ID:
335319
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2024.
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