Klovićevi Dvori Gallery (, abbr. GKD, or simply ''Klovićevi dvori'') is an art gallery in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Opened in 1982, the gallery is named after the 16th century Croatian-born artist

Juraj Julije Klović Juraj Julije Klović (; 1498 – 5 January 1578) was a Croatian-Italian illuminator, miniaturist, and painter born in the Kingdom of Croatia, who was mostly active in Renaissance Italy. He is considered the greatest illuminator of the Italian ...

, considered to be one of the greatest

manuscript illuminator An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers and liturgical books such as psalters and ...

s of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

(the phrase "Klovićevi dvori" literally translates as "Klović Palace" or "Klović Hall"). The gallery is located in the building of a former 18th century

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

monastery in the historic area of Gradec in Zagreb's Upper Town, in the vicinity of other landmarks such as St. Catherine's Church, St. Mark's Square,

Old City Hall Old City Hall may refer to: Asia In Hong Kong * Old City Hall (Hong Kong) Europe In Croatia * Old City Hall (Zagreb) In Denmark * Old City Hall (1479–1728), in Copenhagen * Old City Hall (1728–1795), in Copenhagen * Old City Hall (Aalborg ...

, and Lotrščak Tower. The upper station of the Zagreb funicular is also located nearby, as well as the

Museum of Broken Relationships The Museum of Broken Relationships () is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia, founded by artists Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić. It grew from a traveling exhibition revolving around the concept of failed relationships and their ruins. The museum f ...

. Klovićevi Dvori Gallery had 344,067 visitors in 2018, making it the third most visited museum in Croatia.

History

Formally established in 1980 as a venue to house

Ante Topić Mimara Ante Topić Mimara (7 April 1898 in Korušce – 30 January 1987 in Zagreb) was a controversial Croatian art collector and philanthropist. He donated his collection of more than 3,700 artifacts, ranging from the prehistoric art, prehistoric to the ...

's extensive art collection, the former Jesuit monastery was adapted into an exhibition space in the following two years. But since the controversial collector was not satisfied with the choice of venue for his artworks, the gallery first opened to the public in March 1982 with shows that included major traveling exhibitions of international importance, such as collections of engravings by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

, and works by painter Oton Gliha and sculptor

Dušan Džamonja Dušan Džamonja (, ; 31 January 1928 – 14 January 2009) was a Yugoslav sculptor of Serbian ancestry. Education and career Džamonja was born in 1928 in Strumica, Macedonia, former Vardar Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1945, Džamonja be ...

. The gallery's biggest success in its early years was a 1984 exhibition of ancient

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chine ...

, which featured 160 objects loaned from the

National Museum of China The National Museum of China is an art museum, art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than ...

and attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors over three months. In 1985 the gallery expanded to the nearby Lotrščak Tower, and in 1987 the

Mimara Museum The Mimara Museum () is an art museum in the city of Zagreb, Croatia. It is situated on Roosevelt Square, housing the collection by Wiltrud and Ante Topić Mimara. Housed in an imposing neo-Renaissance former school is the eclectic, globe-trottin ...

opened. That same year, a fourth venue, Gradec Gallery (), also opened nearby. All four exhibition venues were managed as a single public entity, called MGC (). In the 1990s the much larger Mimara Museum split off to become a separate entity dedicated solely to housing the Mimara collection, while the Gradec Gallery closed in the 1990s due to decay. However, the remaining two venues in Zagreb's historic Upper Town continued to function, with GKD and Lotrščak Tower hosting various kinds of travelling exhibitions of both Croatian and international artists. It produces some 30 exhibitions every year and is one of the largest such institutions in the country. In cooperation with

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum (, ) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is separate to the collection of int ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Gallery organised two joint exhibitions: on 800-years of joint cultural heritage in 2020 and of 19-th century Croatian and Hungarian arts of painting in 2024, as a part of Hungarian presidency of the CEU.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klovicevi dvori Art museums and galleries in Zagreb Gornji Grad–Medveščak Art museums and galleries established in 1982 1982 establishments in Croatia Recipients of the Charter of the Republic of Croatia

History

See also

References

External links