Foto: Keiichi Tahara

Ivan Picelj (Okučani, 1924. – Zagreb, 2011.) - was a Croatian visual artist and designer, a pioneer in multiple artistic fields, and an initiator of numerous projects that made the local scene compatible with broader, international perspectives. He was a leading figure in abstraction during the 1950s and one of the most prominent Croatian artists of the second half of the 20th century. Picelj was a member of the EXAT-51 art group and the New Tendencies movement, which placed Zagreb on the global art map. He left an indelible mark on various areas of artistic creation, as well as on the cultural scene in Zagreb, particularly the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, for which he shaped the visual identity over many years.
In 1943, Picelj enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, but left after three years due to dissatisfaction with the teaching methods. Despite this, he successfully worked on the design and arrangement of stands at the Zagreb Fair, and on this basis, along with colleagues Vjenceslav Richter and Aleksandar Srnec, he was entrusted with the design of Yugoslav pavilions at exhibitions in Zagreb, Vienna, Hannover, Stockholm, Turin, and Chicago. He co-founded the EXAT 51 group, which in its manifesto highlighted the aim of bringing art and design closer together to improve the quality of everyday life. This approach brought the Bauhaus idea of the importance of designing the human environment for the quality of life to the local context. In 1959, Picelj exhibited for the first time at the Denise René Gallery in Paris, with which he would later establish a close collaboration, not only as an exhibiting artist but also as the creator of posters for numerous exhibitions held at the gallery during the 1960s. He was one of the initiators of the New Tendencies movement and participated in all its exhibitions from 1961 to 1975, designing some of his most famous posters, and was one of the founders of the Studio for Industrial Design (SIO).
He participated in numerous exhibitions, including: the Venice Biennale (1969, 1972), A Century of Avant-garde Art in Middle and Eastern Europe (Kunsthalle, Bonn, 1994), Constructivism and Kinetic Art (City Gallery, now MSU, Zagreb, 1995), Ivan Picelj — Graphic Art Opus (International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, 2003), Crystal & Surface 1951-2005 (Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, Zagreb, 2005), and Picelj (Denise René Gallery, Rive Gauche, Paris, 2008).
As a designer of posters, catalogs, and typography, he had long-term collaborations with the Gallery of Contemporary Art (now MSU Zagreb), the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Museum Space (now Klovićevi Dvori Gallery), the Croatian Graphic Institute, Matica Hrvatska, the publishing house Znanje, the Gavella Drama Theatre, among others, and he also designed numerous books.
Picelj initiated many exhibitions, guest appearances, and projects based on international collaboration with the goal of promoting constructivist art. His works have been exhibited in many renowned institutions both locally and internationally and are now part of prestigious museum collections, such as Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam, the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, the Museum of Art in Łódź, as well as the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
He was the recipient of the Vladimir Nazor State Award for Lifetime Achievement (1994.); Lifetime Achievement Award from the Croatian Designers Association (2001), and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Croatian Association of Fine Artists (2006.).

Curator: prof. Zvonko Maković, PhD.

The exhibition Picelj and Friends, marking the centenary of Ivan Picelj's birth, presents the multifaceted role of Ivan Picelj in the history of Croatian art and culture in general. He was one of those who, in the early post-war years, shaped artistic strategies of far-reaching significance and remained consistent in his choices until the end. It would be insufficient to view him solely as a great artist who introduced a series of significant, even tectonic innovations in the field of visual arts, whether in painting, objects, or graphic design. Picelj saw his role more broadly and complexly, as can be observed from his early days when the EXAT-51 Group appeared on the scene, with the group’s first exhibition being held in his apartment. It is also worth mentioning the display of EXAT painters' works at the first public exhibition at the Architects' Association, where the arrangement of the paintings was conceived in a completely new way, never before seen in our region.Particularly noteworthy is Picelj's promotional role in advancing local art abroad and facilitating the exhibition of significant foreign artists in Croatia. Furthermore, his work in the field of graphic design is of exceptional importance. He set high standards, often working for cultural institutions when it came to designing posters, catalogs, and visual identities in general.
Within the circle of EXAT-51 painters, Ivan Picelj is regarded as the most dogmatic artist, representing the ideas expressed in the group’s manifesto. Uncompromising abstraction, in his case of geometric provenance, became the hallmark of early abstract art in the local context. Picelj's work contained clear connections that integrated Croatian art of the 1950s into the art emerging in major, mostly European, centers of the time. Likewise, his geometric abstraction pointed to shared roots in the resources of the historical avant-garde from the first half of the century.
All of the above is the main reason for expanding Ivan Picelj's retrospective exhibition, organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, by including all aspects of his work, as well as works by artists close to him, to more comprehensively understand his true place in contemporary Croatian art. The artists whom Picelj promoted, invited, or exhibited with shared the same artistic and cultural strategies, recognizable in their pursuit of the radically new, while respecting the best legacies left by Bauhaus, De Stijl, and the Russian avant-garde. The belief in the new, in experimentation as a crucial driver of value, which can be traced back to Picelj's formative, EXAT phase, became a key element of his art until his final works, including paintings, objects, drawings, and graphics on one hand, and graphic design on the other.
Alongside the comprehensive presentation of Picelj's oeuvre, the exhibition features works by Yaacov Agam, Getulio Alviani, Hans Arp, Mihajlo Arsovski, Vojin Bakić, Vladimir Bonačić, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Ivo Kalina, Julije Knifer, Vladimir Kristl, Almir Mavignier, François Morellet, Božidar Rašica, Jesús Rafael Soto, Aleksandar Srnec, and Victor Vasarely.

Screening of "New Tendencies" (2010) and Discussion
Date & Time: 15.11., 6 pm
Location: MSU
Desciption: Screening of the documentary film New Tendencies (2010) and a discussion with relevant experts on the significance of the New Tendencies movement in the context of Croatian and global art.

Screenwriter and editor: Ana Marija Habjan
Director: Vladislav Knežević
Photographer: Mario Britvić
Video editor: Tomislav Topić
Producer: Drago Škobić
Music: Dubravko Detoni, Marko Kelemen, Berislav Šipuš, Ivo Josipović, Ruben Radica, Petar Bergamo, John Cage, Vladimir Bonačić
Archive: Deša Jović, Jagoda Sikirić
Director´s assistant: Ivica Horvatić
Translators: Jelena Šestak, Vlatka Slavica
Original music, music design: Marko Pelajić
Text read by: Željko Tomac
Synchronization: Siniša Tvorić
Sound recorder: Tomislav Poljak
Design and animation: Mario Kalogjera
Documentary program producer: Miroslav Rezić
Documentary program editor: Miro Branković
Production: Hrvatska radiotelevizija, 2010.

Price: Free of charge
Registration: Not required

Date & Time: 26.10., at 11 am and 5 pm
Location: Gathering at the museum reception.
Registration: Not required
Details: Free guided tour and educational booklet for children with a valid exhibition ticket.

Date & Time: 29.9., 27.10 i 17.11, at 11:30 am
Location: Gathering at the museum reception.
Registration: Not required
Details: The guided tour is free with a (previously) purchased exhibition ticket.

Date & Time: 17.10.2024, u 18h
Location: Gathering at the museum reception.
Registration: Not required
Details: The guided tour is free with a (previously) purchased exhibition ticket.

Date & Time: 19.10., at 10 am.
Location: Meeting in front of the Technical Museum entrance
Desciption: Explore the New Tendencies art movement on a 90-minute walking tour from the Technical Museum to the former Moše Pijade University. Learn how Zagreb became a key hub of early computer art in the 1960s.
Guide: Ivana Meštrov
Price: 8 euros through the Ulaznice.hr service or at the MSU Zagreb ticket office.

Radionica „MSU mali i veliki“

Date & Time: October 5, 2024, from 11:30 to 13:00
Location: Baunet Caffe, 1st Floor (MSU)
Desciption: A family workshop dedicated to Ivan Picelj, a Croatian painter, designer, and graphic artist, intended for children who, in collaboration with their parents and/or family members, create their own artwork inspired by the exhibition.
Price: 8 € (cijena za dva roditelja/skrbnika i dvoje djece; predviđena dob djece je od 4 do 10 godina).
Registration: edukacija@msu.hr

Radionica „MSU kreARTivka“

Date & Time: 9.11.2024., 11:30 am until 1 pm
Location: MSU School
Desciption: A creative art workshop for children aged 6-10, inspired by Ivan Picelj's works.
Price: Free of charge
Registration: edukacija@msu.hr

Date & Time: November 14-17, 2024 / Opening: November 14 at 6 pm
Location: MSU School
Desciption: Exhibition of works by students from three primary and three secondary schools in Zagreb, created as part of the Creart 3.0 educational program, aimed at improving collaboration between local schools, cultural institutions, NGOs, and the cultural sector. The works, guided by educational booklets and mentored by Croatian artists, will be on display.
Price: Free of charge

Date & Time: 3.10.2024., at 6 pm
Location: Gorgona Hall, MSU
Desciption:  The lecture will explore the role and significance of Ivan Picelj within the EXAT-51 group, focusing on his contributions to late modernism and geometric abstraction in Croatian art.
Price: Free of charge
Registration: Not required

Date & Time: 24.10.2024, at 6 pm
Location: Exhibition space "Picelj and Friends"
Desciption: A discussion on Picelj's contributions to visual identity design, with a focus on his work from the 1950s to the 1980s, including his collaborations with cultural institutions and occasional commercial ventures.
Price: Free of charge
Registration: Not required

Date & Time: 30.10.2024., at 6 pm
Location: Exhibition space "Picelj and Friends"
Guests: Marina Benažić, long-term head of Tošo Dabac Archive; Alenka Pinter, artist´s ex-wife
Moderator: Bella Rupena, head of Tošo Dabac Archive, MSU
Desciption: Atelje Toše Dabca na adresi Ilica 17  pedesetih i sezdesetih godina 20. stoljeća postaje nezaobilazno mjesto na zagrebačkoj kulturnoj sceni. Svakodnevni posjeti značajnih intelektualaca, glazbenika, arhitekata, književnika pretvorili su atelje u neiscrpan izvor umjetničkih i intelektualnih ideja u koje su navracali umjetnici i teoreticari poput Ivana Picelja, Bože Beka, Radoslava Putara, Boška Petrovića, Nenada Gattina,Vere Horvat- Pintarić, Ivana Vitića, Mihaila Arsovskog i drugih. Tošo Dabac, gostoljubiv domaćin, sa svojim je gostima bi vezan ne samo poslovnim angažmanima, nego i neraskidivim  prijateljstvima. Suradnja Dabca i Picelja počela je pedesetih godina kada je cijenjeni zagrebački fotograf, uz ostale umjetnine Galerije suvremene umjetnosti, snimao i Piceljeva djela, kao i djela najznačajnijih članova grupe EXAT 51. Poslovna suradnja koja se ubrzo pretvorila u veliko prijateljstvo trajala je do Tošine smrti 1970. godine, nakon čega Picelj nastavlja surađivati s atelijerom kojeg preuzima Petar Dabac. Na inicijativu prvenstveno Ivana Picelja i Petra Dabca, uz nekoliko entuzijasta i ljubitelja fotografije, početkom osamdesetih u Ilici 17 osnovana je galerija u kojoj su se predstavili brojni domaći i međunarodni umjetnici fotografije, a upravo na ideju Ivana Picelja tadašnji atelijer preimenovan je u Arhiv Tošo Dabac. U Arhivu kojeg je 2006. godine otkupio Grad Zagreb i dao na upravljanje Muzeju suvremene umjetnosti čuvaju se brojni negativi i fotografije koji svjedoče o važnoj kulturno umjetničkoj atmosferi kao i o posebnom prijateljstvu velikana hrvatske umjetnosti, Toše Dabca i Ivana Picelja.
Price: Free of charge
Registration: Not required

Date & Time: 7.11.2024., at 6 pm
Location: Exhibition space "Picelj and Friends"
Desciption: The lecture will delve into Picelj's non-mimetic, abstract approach to art, particularly in his constructivist reliefs and op-art objects, analyzing their evolution and artistic significance.
Price: Free of charge
Registration: Not required

Museum of Contemporary Art
3rd Floor
Avenija Dubrovnik 17, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Tuesday - Friday: 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Holidays: closed

Individual Ticket: €6
Child (over 6 years), Student, Senior Ticket: 4 EUR  
Group Ticket: 5 EUR per person
Family Ticket: 9 EUR 
Individual School Group Ticket 4 EUR per person (min 4 tickets)

Free Admission:
Members of professional associations (HDLU, ICOM Croatia, HMD, DPUH, ULUPUH, Grazer Kunstverein)
Journalists
Art history, fine arts, and design students
Students of art high schools and schools of applied arts
Preschool children
Unemployed persons
Displaced persons from Ukraine
For all visitors on the first Wednesday of each month
Price: Available at the MSU ticket office during exhibition hours, no later than 30 minutes before closing.
Payment Options: Cash, Credit/Debit Card

+385 1 60 52 700   |  MSU@MSU.HR

+385 1 46 11 818   |  TAJNISTVO@HDLU.HR