Prayer as a Mercy. Alphonse Mucha and Predrag Djaković

The exhibition Prayer as a Mercy presented a dialogue between the artworks of two painters from different eras: Alphonse Mucha, who created in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, and Predrag Djaković (1964), a contemporary artist. Thematically, the exhibition showed the sufferings of the Serbian, Czech and Jewish people that happened in the 20th century, it pointed to unfortunate events that we must not forget, but with the power of artistic expression, etched them into the collective memory so that they would never happen again. The audience had the opportunity to meet for the first time the monumental work of Alphonse Mucha Mercy – Charitas from 1886 (154×451 cm) and three drawings from the mature phase of his work from private collections of Czech collectors.

A conscious abandonment of reality: Sava Sekulić i Ilija Bosilj

The exhibition presents 67 works of these two artists from different museum collections, and is accompanied by two documentary films: the film about Ilija Bosilj is the work of director Žika Mitrović and was produced by Centarfilm, while the film about Sava Sekulić is directed by Slobodan Pešić also offers segments of conversations with the artist himself. The exhibition is complemented by documentation, including a letter from Jean Dibiffe about Ilija’s art, written when Dibiffe included it in his collection (which today forms the Collection dell’Art Brut in Lausanne). Considering the importance of the artistic works that are exhibited, because they are two of the most internationally recognized authors from the domain of raw art, but also about works that from the very beginning move in the border area of ​​contemporary and art brut, the exhibition also has a certain theoretical artistic aspect that contributes to its importance.

Sport in art. The art of sports

The exhibition includes 44 works of art and objects created in the period from 1858 to 2018. In the Cultural Center of Serbia, selected works from the collection of the Gallery of Matica Srpska, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republika Srpska, the Museum of Yugoslavia, the “Sava Šumanović” Picture Gallery in Šid, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Legate House in Belgrade are presented. The selected works are signed by artists Sava Šumanović, Ivan Radović, Petar Dobrović, Ivan Tabaković, Steva Todorović, Petar Omčikus, Dušan Todorović, Bojan Bem, Uroš Đurić and Tomislav Peternek, as well as Henry Moore, Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gottfried Helnwein. and James Rosenquist. Also, the Paris audience will have the opportunity to see sports props, medals and photographs from the collection of the Museum of Yugoslavia and artistic photographs from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade.

Inspired by France

The largest group in the exhibition consists of the works of Serbian modernists created in the interwar period. The exhibition also includes works from the first post-war years, which were created in new socio-political circumstances by the bearers of interwar modernism, as well as by new generations who are fed from the same creative sources. More than 60 presented works of art by artists such as Sava Šumanović, Bogdan Šuput, Petar Dobrović, Milan Konjović, Peđa Milosavljević, Ljubica Cuca Sokić, Lazar Vozarević, Mića Popović and sculptural works by Đorđe Jovanović stand as permanent testimonies of the way these “Parisian guests” are experienced the capital of art, as well as the way in which they contributed to the strengthening of Serbian-French ties with their artistic involvement.

Uroš Predić – the Noble Essence of Everyday Life

The exhibition Uroš Predić – the Noble Essence of Everyday Life, authored by Snežana Mišić, PhD, and Professor Igor Borozan, will officially open at the SASA Gallery, on Tuesday, 12 March, at 7 p.m. as a result of a successful, several-decade-long cooperation on the promotion and presentation of the overall national art and cultural heritage between the Gallery of Matica Srpska and the SASA Gallery. On this occasion, the two institutions were united by artist Uroš Predić, who, throughout his long and in term of creative work very prolific life, was inseparably linked to both Matica Srpska and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. A similar exhibition was realized at the Gallery of Matica Srpska in 2022/2023.

Parallels. Timisoara / Novi Sad

The collections of the National Art Museum and the Gallery of Matica Srpska had unusually comparable histories that can easily be seen in the personalities of their founders, in the artists, that is, in the works of art they collected. Both collections were founded in the middle of the 19th century from the initial bequests of two exceptional individuals, two great benefactors and beacons of the Age of Enlightenment – Sava Tekelija (1761‒1842) and Žigmond Ormoš (1813‒1894), and they originated from reputable scientific societies. On those grounds, a unique exhibition was created – the collection of the imaginary museum of the European Capital of Culture. That collection confirms the strong historical ties between the two cities, the similarities of social conditions and the artistic space in which they developed during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Pomorišac – Vasa Pomorišac

The exhibition was dedicated to an artist who managed to present classical art through the optics of a modern view. To the artist who was the only one among his fellow painters of the first half of the 20th century to study in London. To the artist who was awarded the Silver Medal of the Association of French Artists. An artist whose works are kept in numerous private collections in Europe, but also in the state collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. To the artist who, during fifty years of creation, gave birth to a unique artistry in Serbian art. He is a Pomorišac – Vasa Pomorišac.

Paja Jovanović and Gustav Klimt. One epoch, two artists, three museums

Exhibition Paja Jovanović and Gustav Klimt. One epoch, two artists, three museums, three female portraits from three museums were presented: the Gallery of Matica srpska, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and the Gallery Belvedere. These three carefully selected works, two of which were exhibited for the first time in Serbia, pointed out the similarities and differences between great artists, spoke about the social context in which they were created and at the same time connected the museums whose collections they are.

Gift-collection of Dragiša Brašovan

Exhibition presents over 100 exhibits – paintings, sculptures, drawings, stylish furniture, works of applied art and documentary material that the heirs of this famous Serbian architect, his wife Viktorija Brašovan and daughter Olga Kovačev, donated to the Gallery in the period from 2020 to beginning of 2023. For the first time, the public will have the opportunity to see objects and works that speak about the architect’s private life and contribute to a better understanding of his character and work.

One Quite (un)usual Serbian-French connection
Olga Kešeljević and Marc Barbezat

The story of two people, their destinies, mutual relations, connections with the European intellectual and artistic elite served as the basic narrative of the exhibition One Quite (un)Usual Serbian-French connection. Olga Kešeljević and Mark Barbeza. Thinking about Serbian-French relations outside of the grand historical narratives, the exhibition emphasizes that small signs in time can be anchor points where the cultures of Serbia and France intertwine.

Novi Sad Citizens Choose

Starting from the fact that the city is shaped by citizens, their origins, heritage, habits and orientations, and that the museum is a place of collective memory that collects and preserves different life stories of individuals, we decided to open our collection and offer it to fellow citizens through works of art – in our space they tell the story of themselves and their city. We wanted to intertwine personal and general, individual and city, work of art and the possible message it conveys at the present time, and as a result of that friendship, the exhibition Novi Sad Citizens Choose was conceived.

Collection as a Mirror
Modernism in artworks from the Gallery of Matica srpska

The Gallery of Matica Srpska and the Art Gallery “Nadežda Petrović” present to the Čačak audience an exhibition COLLECTION AS A MIRROR. Modernism in artworks from the Gallery of Matica srpska in the year when Čačak is the National Capital of Culture. The exhibition displays 86 artworks – 75 paintings, 7 sculptures and 4 graphic prints – and illustrates not only the modernisms of the first half of the 20^th century, but also their predecessors and role models, found in the work of painters who were creating art during last decades of the 19^th century.

One Quite (un)Usual Serbian-French Connection
Olga Kešeljević and Marc Barbezat

The story of two people, their destinies, mutual relations, connections with the European intellectual and artistic elite served as the basic narrative of the exhibition One Quite (un)Usual Serbian-French Connection. Olga Kešeljević and Marc Barbezat. Thinking about Serbian-French relations outside of the grand historical narratives, the exhibition emphasizes that small signs in time can become anchor points where the cultures of Serbia and France intertwine.

Uroš Predić
A Life Dedicated to Beauty and Art

In the year of marking a significant jubilee – 175 years since the foundation of the Gallery of Matica Srpska, we are realizing a large monographic exhibition dedicated to the work of one of the most outstanding national painters, Uroš Predić. Exhibition Uroš Predić. A Life Dedicated to Beauty and Art, through the story of the life and work of this great personality of Serbian culture and art, simultaneously points to the fundamental values of the Gallery of Matica Srpska: endowment, dedication to the common good and national values, as well as the importance of this painter for the history of Serbian art.

Sava Šumanović and Realisms in Europe Between the Two World Wars

Almost the entire painting of Sava Šumanović (1896–1942) belongs to the period between the two world wars. Building a more comprehensive picture of Šumanović’s realisms and their relations with international art tendencies was the starting point in the approach to this exhibition held in The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, The Gallery of Matica Srpska and the Art Gallery “Sava Šumanović” in Šid.

Collection as a Mirror
Modernism in artworks from the Gallery of Matica srpska

The Gallery of Matica Srpska and the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska present to the Banja Luka audience an exhibition COLLECTION AS A MIRROR. Modernism in artworks from the Gallery of Matica srpska. The exhibition displays 86 artworks – 75 paintings, 7 sculptures and 4 graphic prints – and illustrates not only the modernisms of the first half of the 20^th century, but also their predecessors and role models, found in the work of painters who were creating art during last decades of the 19^th century.

Parallels. Novi Sad / Timisoara

Based on the belief that museums are a kind of fortresses of peace and bridges that connect and unite us, the Gallery of Matica Srpska and the National Art Museum in Timişoara created unusual exhibition, connecting their rich collections, and making parallels between artists, themes, ideas and artistic visions of former common cultural space. The reason why both collections keep famous self-portrait in a tavern by Stevan Aleksić, the similarity between Sava Tekelija and Zsigmond Ormos and the link between Novi Sad and Timisoara are revealed in the exhibition Parallels. Novi Sad / Timisoara

Partisan and Fragonard
Collection of Paintings of Jovanka Broz

The exhibition includes 36 paintings by local and foreign artists, personal belongings, photographs and several pieces of furniture from the house where Jovanka Broz lived after the passing of Josip Broz Tito. For over three decades, Jovanka Broz lived in a memory chamber which she kept on transferring from one environment to another, like a time capsule, trying to replicate as much as she possibly could the ambience of the Residence in Užička 15 where she lived with Tito. This collection appeared spontaneous as a backstage of her life, and in the same manner disappeared.

Migrations in Art – the Art of Migrations

The exhibition Migrations in Art – the Art of Migrations explores the phenomenon of social migrations reconsidering its historical and present context, the reasons and the effects of migrations on societies and individuals. The idea of this exhibition is to observe, examine and understand the phenomenon of migrations that affects nations and raises many ethical and cultural issues during the current global migration crisis. Working at different levels – temporal, spatial, ethical and others, the exhibition provides us opportunities to reconsider our own attitudes and the attitudes of society, or even civilizational challenges through the language of art.

Collection as a Mirror
Modernism in Artworks from the Gallery of Matica Srpska

The Gallery of Matica Srpska and the Gallery of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts present to the Belgrade audience exhibition COLLECTION AS A MIRROR. Modernism in artworks from the Gallery of Matica srpska. The exhibition displays 86 artworks – 75 paintings, 7 sculptures and 4 graphic prints – and illustrates not only the modernisms of the first half of the 20^th century, but also their predecessors and role models, found in the work of painters who were creating art during last decades of the 19^th century. 

Life – Dream – Death
European Framework of Serbian Symbolism

Symbolism that marked the European art scene at the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century, has been recently seen in many European countries as an unavoidable topic in contemporary science of art history. This complex direction united two large and important museum institutions – the National Museum in Belgrade and the Gallery of Matica Srpska in Novi Sad on a joint realization of a comprehensive exhibition Life – Dream – Death. European Framework of Serbian Symbolism.  Its aim was the presentation of the peculiarities of Serbian symbolism viewed through the prism of European frameworks.

Lasting Values. The Artwork Collection of DDOR

The exhibition Lasting Values. The Artwork Collection of DDOR is a product of the cooperation between the Gallery of Matica srpska and DDOR, spanning several years and including various projects of presentation and preservation of cultural heritage. As a natural continuation of this partnership, the work of experts from the Gallery of Matica srpska on listing, processing, digitizing and determining the value of the artwork collection, meticulously put together under the roof of DDOR, has paved the way for this exhibition, thanks to which a part of the extensive collection, comprised of nearly 400 artworks, has been shown to the public for the first time.

Kaleidoscope. Artist – Collector – Critic

Connected to one exhibition the Artist – Dragan Stojkov, Collector (s) – Vladimir and Borka Popović and the Critic – Ratomir Kulić point to the kaleidoscope of museum activities where each angle of observation brings a new image and knowledge about the importance and the value of art. There is no art without a painter who creates artworks, there is no purpose if there are no collectors who collect them, and there is no permanence without critics who interpret it and present it to the public. The exhibition is conceived as a unique kaleidoscope through which these three persons intertwine and refract, creating a unique idea of ​​the activities, features and values ​​of the Gallery of Matica Srpska.

European phenomena in the collection of GMS

The Gallery of Matica srpska from Novi Sad and National Museum of Art from Timișoara signed a Protocol on Cooperation with the intention of connecting two future European Capitals of Culture – Novi Sad and Timișoara – through the implementation of joint projects and exhibitions, which will carry this prestigious title in 2022 and 2023. On the occasion of the beginning of cooperation,the exhibition European Phenomena in the collection of the Gallery of Matica srpska was realized at the National Art Museum in Timișoara.

Gift collection Graovac. Nikola and Radmila

Gift collections have a special place in the history and development of the Gallery of Matica srpska because they keep the memory of the artist artistic opus, personality of the collector or the donor. Gift collection Graovac, which has 22 paintings by Nikola Graovac and 21 sculpture work by Radmila Graovac, is the present from their daughter Smiljka Graovac Cvetko. By this valuable gift, the collection of the Gallery of Matica srpska is enriched with works of art from the second half of the 20th century and competed the memory of the great artistic couple. Two artists, who walked together through life and art for more than half a century, created authentic symbiosis of two intertwined opuses, which are now displayed at the exhibition in the Gallery of Matica srpska.

Identity(ies)

Representations of women in serbian painting (1918–1941)

Apparently, we talk about identities all the time. Everyday. Is the identity important, what does it mean and how it effects our social relations and interactions? As a crucial question of this exhibition, the notion of identity, is re-examined through Serbian visual culture between two World Wars. The exhibition deals with questions of understanding and representation of the most frequently mentioned ones: national, class, gender, sexual, including issues on constituting and understanding of selfhood. 

Matrix. Monology of Danilo Vuksanović

Celebrating of The Day of the Gallery of Matica Srpska, the exhibition Matrix. Monology of Danilo Vuksanović has been opened, presenting the collection of matrixes seen through the eyes of a contemporary artist Danilo Vuksanović. The author questions the life of museum objects and points out the importance of symbols of past as models for artistic creation at present time, merging and opening a space for uninterrupted communication and connection between past and present.

Inspired by Italy

On the occasion of the 140^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and Serbia and the 10^th anniversary of signing of a strategic partnership between these two countries, the Gallery of Matica Srpska, in cooperation with the Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade and sponsored by DDOR Insurance, organized the exhibition Inspired by Italy, author Stanislava Jovanović Mindić, curator of the Gallery.

Serbian Modernism 1880‒1950 from the Gallery of Matica Srpska Collection

With a desire to present a part of Serbian cultural heritage to the Slovenian public through the selected artworks from one of the oldest and most eminent national institutions of Serbia, the exhibition Serbian Modernism 1880‒1950 from the Gallery of Matica Srpska Collection, by Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, PhD, director of the Gallery, was accomplished in 2020, as initiated by the National Gallery of Slovenia in Ljubljana.

Highlights. Foreign Art Collection of Msurs

The Gallery of Matica Srpska hosted a guest exhibition Highlights. The Collection of Foreign Art of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska. The aim of the exhibition was to pointing out the importance of the Collection of Foreign Art of this Museum and initiate its promotion as a part of European cultural heritage. The Collection of Foreign Art of the Museum of Contemporary Art includes more than 360 artworks. The selected artworks presented at the exhibition give an insight into the leading artistic trends after 1945, i.e. an overview of the most significant phenomena on the European art scene in the Cold War era.

Inspired by Italy

On the occasion of the 140^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and Serbia and the 10^th anniversary of signing of a strategic partnership between these two countries, the Gallery of Matica Srpska, in cooperation with the Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade and sponsored by DDOR Insurance, organized the exhibition Inspired by Italy, author Stanislava Jovanović Mindić, curator of the Gallery.

European Phenomena in the Collection of the Gallery of Matica Srpska

After its premiere presentation at the Gallery of Matica Srpska in 2018, the exhibition European Phenomena in the Collection of the Gallery of Matica Srpska, by authors Danilo Vuksanović, MA, Miroslav Žarkov, Luka Kulić and Stanislava Jovanović, curators and conservators of the Gallery, was organized in the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka.

Kračun

The exhibition Kračun, author Vladimir Simić, PhD, art historian, was organized on the occasion of celebrating the Day of the Gallery of Matica Srpska. The exhibition presents works of Teodor Kračun (Sremska Kamenica, 1732 – Sremski Karlovci, 1781) one of the greatest Serbian painters of the 18^th century, whose oeuvre reached the peak of Serbian Baroque painting.

The Gift Collection of Sava Stepanov

During 2019, the Gallery of Matica Srpska received a unique present – The Gift Collection from an art critic and collector, Sava Stepanov. This collection was presented at the eponymous exhibition by Danilo Vuksanović, MA, Art Director of the Gallery, and Miroslava Žarkov, curator. Sava Stepanov’s gift collection consists not only of works painted by one author, as it is a case with other Gift Collections of the Gallery, but of a series of artworks of different authors, giving an overview of the development of postmodern and contemporary art in Serbian and Vojvodinian art.