The Museum of Contemporary Art () is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

located in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Serbia. It was founded in 1958 as the Modern Gallery, making if one the first museums of this type in the world. It was moved into the current building in the Ušće neighborhood of

New Belgrade New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...

in 1965. The building is a masterpiece of architects Ivan Antić and Ivanka Raspopović, a short-lived but highly successful partnership, which also produced the 21 October Museum in Šumarice Memorial Park in Kragujevac. The collection contains more than 35,000 works of art. The museum collects and displays art works produced since 1900 in Serbia and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. It also organizes international exhibitions of modern and

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

. The museum was closed for renovation between 2007 and 2017. After several deadlines were pushed back, the museum was finally reopened for visitors on 20 October 2017.

History

Construction

The museum building is located near the confluence of the rivers

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

and

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, in Ušće park in the

Novi Beograd New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...

municipality. It was designed by Ivan Antić and Ivanka Raspopović in 1960, with construction beginning that year and continuing until 1965. The architects received the October Prize from the City of Belgrade on 20 October 1965, the same day the museum was opened to the public. Due to its shape, architecture and location, it has been described as the "crystal at the confluence" or an "(architectural) jewel".

2007–17 renovation

When renovation talks first began in the early 2000s, both original architects were still alive. However, Antić died in 2005 and Raspopović in 2015. Reconstruction began in 2007, but dragged on for a decade, due to numerous reasons. After 10 years of renovation work, the museum was finally re-opened to the public on 20 October 2017, on the anniversary of the first museum opening 52 years earlier. The entire building was renovated and upgraded to meet current museum standards. The park surrounding the museum building was also reconstructed. The first exhibition to be held in the newly renovated museum was "Sequences" by Dejan Sretenović. Raspopović contributed to the reconstruction project by suggesting that the glass, belonging to the building's domes, be replaced with a darker shade. The newly added blue panels change their tone, depending on the weather and time of day. The domes have therefore become interactive and dynamic, complementing the surrounding park and the nearby modernistic glass-and-steel Ušće Tower. The main criticism, regarding the renovations, revolves around the use of too much concrete in the access paths leading to the museum. Despite new lighting, as well as the addition of pebbles and

tartan Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

, critics believe that the concrete makes the area appear less "humane" and could hamper the future growth of avenue-like trees along the paths. The parceling and concrete work done in the surrounding park area was also criticized, as was the apparent haste in the latter stages to finish the reconstruction quickly. The first company chosen to do the construction work was "Montera". It was paid fully for the job, but went bankrupt leaving the renovation unfinished for years. During the next public bidding in 2014, aimed specifically at redoing the roof, the company "Jedinstvo" from

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...

was chosen. The following bidding, which covered the remaining work, failed. "Jedinstvo" applied again and was selected by the museum, even though it had the highest offer. The Ministry of Culture, headed by Ivan Tasovac at the time, insisted that the lowest bidder should be picked instead, which was "Modulor", a company from

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...

. As a result, the museum director, Jovan Despotović, was let go and the "Termoinženjering" company was chosen at the next bidding. They finished the entire reconstruction, renovating the roof a second time. Yet, already in July 2018 the reconstructed roof began to leak when it rained.

Departments

The collection began to form in 1958. As of 2018, 8,000 paintings and sculptures are exhibited. The museum has several departments and collections: *Collection of Paintings before 1945 *Collection of Paintings after 1945 *Collection of Graphics, Prints and foreign Paintings **Serbian and Yugoslav painters represented in the collection include:

Sava Šumanović Sava Šumanović ( sr-Cyrl, Сава Шумановић; 22 January 1896 – 30 August 1942) was a Serbian painter. He is considered to be one of the most important Serbian painters of the 20th century. Šumanović's opus includes around 800 pa ...

Milena Pavlović-Barili Milena Pavlović-Barili (alt. Barilli; sr-Cyrl, Милена Павловић-Барили; 5 November 1909 – 6 March 1945) was a Serbian painter and poet. She is the most notable female artist of Serbian modernism. Biography Her Italian f ...

, Vasa Pomorišac,

Đorđe Andrejević Kun Đorđe Andrejević Kun (; 31 March 1904 – 17 January 1964) was a Serbs, Serbian and Yugoslavs, Yugoslav painter and graphic artist, a participant in the Spanish Civil War and the World War II in Yugoslavia, National Liberation War in Yugoslavia ...

, Vane Bor, Leonid Šejka,

Julije Knifer Julije Knifer (23 April 1924 – 7 December 2004) was a Croatian abstract painter and a founding member of the 1960s Croatian art collective known as the Gorgona Group. The central motif of Knifer's art is the exploration of Meander (art), meander ...

, Vladimir Veličković,

Petar Lubarda Petar Lubarda (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Лубарда); 27 July 1907 – 13 February 1974) was a Serbian painter. Biography He was born in Ljubotinj, near Cetinje, Principality of Montenegro. Lubarda's father was an officer of the Royal Y ...

Krsto Hegedušić Krsto Hegedušić (26 November 1901 – 7 April 1975) was a Croatian painter, illustrator and theater designer. His most famous paintings depict the harsh life of the Croatian peasantry in the manner of naive art. He was one of the founders of ...

, Petar Omčikus,

Mića Popović Miodrag "Mića" Popović (12 June 1923 – 22 December 1996) was a Serbian painter, experimental filmmaker and one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave. Life and work Popović was born on 12 June 1923 in Loznica. He finished grammar s ...

Milovan Destil Marković Milovan DeStil Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Милован ДеСтил Марковић; born 9 November 1957 in Čačak, Yugoslavia, today Serbia) is a Serbian visual artist, who began his career in the early 1980s. Active for over two decades, he is r ...

, etc. **The foreign art collection has 323 works, mostly graphic prints and drawings. *** Graphic works are by

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Jacques Villon Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and Abstract art, abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, Damville, Eure, ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi was born on 7 M ...

Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany, into an ...

James Rosenquist James Albert Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advert ...

Josef Albers Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmit ...

Lucio Fontana Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Italian Argentines, Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of Abstract art, abstract painting as the f ...

Michelangelo Pistoletto Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 23 June 1933) is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. His work mainly deals with the subject mat ...

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

Antoni Tàpies Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tápies, Marquess of Tàpies (; 13 December 1923 – 6 February 2012) was a Catalans, Catalan painter, sculptor, and art theorist. Life The son of Josep Tàpies i Mestre and Maria Puig i Guerra, Antoni T ...

Richard Hamilton (artist) Richard William Hamilton (24 February 1922 – 13 September 2011) was an English painter and collage artist. His 1955 exhibition ''Man, Machine and Motion'' ( Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) and his 1956 collage '' Just what is it that ...

, etc. ***Drawings works by :

Fritz Wotruba Fritz Wotruba (23 April 1907, Vienna, Austria – 28 August 1975, Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor of Czecho- Hungarian descent. He was considered one of the most notable sculptors of the 20th century in Austria. In his work, he increasingly di ...

***Paintings by

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (; 4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brus ...

*Collection of Sculptures **There are 752 sculptures by

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...

Antun Augustinčić Antun Augustinčić (4 May 1900 – 10 May 1979) was a Croatian sculptor active in Yugoslavia and the United States. Along with Ivan Meštrović and Frano Kršinić, he is considered one of the three most important Croatian sculptors of the 2 ...

Toma Rosandić Toma Rosandić ( sr-cyr, Тома Росандић; baptized as Tomaso Vincenzo, 22 January 1878 – 1 March 1958) was a Croatian, Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect and fine arts pedagogue. Together with Ivan Meštrović (1883–1962), F ...

, Walter S. Arnold, Olga Jevrić,

Olga Jančić Olga Jančić (Олга Јанчић; 1 February 1929, in Bitola, Yugoslavia (modern North Macedonia)– 25 October 2012, in Belgrade, Serbia) was a Serbian sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimen ...

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 ...

Sreten Stojanović Sreten Stojanović ( sr-cyr, Сретен Стојановић; 2 February 1898 – 29 October 1960) was a Serbian sculptor, university professor and art critic. His artistic individuality was best observed in portraits made of various materials. ...

, Lojze Dolinar, etc. *Collection of New Art Media **Collection has works of

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limit ...

, Ken Friedman,

George Maciunas George Maciunas (; ; November 8, 1931 Kaunas – May 9, 1978 Boston, Massachusetts) was a Lithuanian American artist, art historian, and art organizer who was the founding member and central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of ...

Hannah Wilke Hannah Wilke (born Arlene Hannah Butter; (March 7, 1940 – January 28, 1993) was an American painter, sculptor, photographer, video artist and performance artist. Her work is known for exploring issues of feminism, sexuality and femininity. Bio ...

etc. **Library and catalogue library – ''over 4,800 books and 23,000 catalogues'' **Hemeroteque (archives) – ''more than 350,000 press clippings'' **Photo library Departments: *Department of General Affairs *Department of Finance *Studio for Conservation and Restoration The museum also operates the Salon of the MoCAB (opened in 1961), located in old town

. According to the curators, the most popular exhibits after the 2017 reopening include painting "On the black field" by , big balls sculpture "L-50" by

Ivan Kožarić Ivan Kožarić (10 June 1921, Petrinja – 15 November 2020, Zagreb) was a Croatian artist who worked primarily with sculpture but also in a wide variety of media, including permanent and temporary sculptures, assemblages, proclamations, photograph ...

, sculpture "Light shapes" by

Vojin Bakić Vojin Bakić ( sr-cyrl, Војин Бакић; 5 June 1915 – 18 December 1992) was a prominent Yugoslav sculptor. Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts and by Ivan Meštrović and Frano Kršin ...

and installation "Comrade Tito, (our) white violet" by Dušan Otašević.

References

External links