one of my favourites, Hedgehog (2011, wood and wrought iron), by Miodrag Samardzic, in the Zepter Gallery in Belgrade
The Zepter Gallery in Belgrade was founded in 1994 by Mrs. Madlena Zepter, married to Philip Zetler, president of the Zepter International Group, a privately owned Swiss-based multinational company producing kitchen utensils. So now you now where the money comes from, Mrs. Zepter is a patron of the arts, as founder of a private Opera and Theatre in Belgrade, a publishing house, an art auction house, a literary price, you name it, they sponsor it (the Zepter Group also sponsors Formula 1, ATP tennis, a golf tournament). Never mind all this, the Zepter Gallery is a fabulous museum showing a collection of modern Yugoslav, again mostly Serbian, art. More importantly, they continue to add to the collection, which since 2010 is being exhibited in an Art Nouveau building – more specifically, Berlin and Hungarian Secession style -, originally built as a bank. We spent hours here, blown away by the paintings and the sculptures, and the attractive interior of the museum.
a view from the entrance down, to where the bank counters were
My favourites: (and afterwards: Brutalist Belgrade)
Torso of a Young Woman (1970, polyester and marble powder), by Slavoljub Vava Stankovic
view of several rooms downstairs
Knight with Plume (1991, metal and plastic), by Zoran Petrovic
Knight in Armour (1991, metal and plastic), by Zoran Petrovic
Knight with Dutch Helmet (1991, metal and plastic), by Zoran Petrovic
Uncle Joska Kovac (1959, oil on hardboard), by Milan Konjovic, by now well known to us!
Composition (1965, oil on cardboard), by Mladen Josic
Hydroelectric Power Station on the River Drina (1955, oil on hardboard), by Dorde Andrejevic-Kun
Self Portrait (1956, pastel on paper), by Dorde Andrejevic-Kun
Blue Winter Landscape (1954, oil on cardboard), by Igor Vasiljev
Urban Landscape in Flames (1946, oil on canvas), Jovan Bijelic
In Front of the Dead City (1964, oil on canvas), by Dorde Bosan
Soldier drinking Beer (1993, oil on canvas), by Milan Blanusa
Bird and Woman (1975, oil on canvas, by Dragutin Cigarcic
another view of several rooms
and this one, Red Black (1995, aluminium, oil), by Miodrag Ristic
Aquarelle (2000, pigment on Jananese paper), by Rade Kundacina
Stockholm (1987, acrylic on canvas), by Cedomir Ceda Vasic
After the Fire (1999, combined technique), by Semsa Gavrankapetanovic
Madmen Triptych (1985, oil, pastel and tempera on paper), by Goran Gvardiol
and Hand-work (2004, made with the remains of pencils collected over many years), by Aleksander Rafajlovic
