Dear visitors, friends and associates of the Stari Grad Museum,
we are pleased to invite you to the presentation of the donation to Stari Grad Museum, print-and-poetry portfolio “Homage to Tonko Maroević”, on Tuesday, 20 July 2021 at 9pm, in Stari Grad Museum’s Juraj Plančić Gallery.
The portfolio was published on September 25, 2020 in the Vid edition, which is founded, edited and graphically designed by Božo Biškupić. This is a collectors’ edition of the Biškupić Collection, printed in a limited number of 57 copies.
In addition to the Crown of sonnets by Luko Paljetak, which reflect the entire life of Tonko Maroević, the portfolio also includes graphic prints by thirty-three Croatian artists who told their experience of Tonko Maroević through various graphic techniques.
The exhibition of graphic prints will be open until July 31, 2021.
The portfolio contains graphic prints by Nevenka Arbanas, Ena Bajuk, Biserka Baretić, Tomislav Buntak, Maja S. Franković, Kažimir Hraste, Josip Ivanović, Zlatko Keser, Jure Kokeza, Igor Konjušak, Željko Lapuh, Tihomir Lončar, Matko Mijić, Zoltan Novak, Frane Paro, Lukša Peko, Dimitrije Popović, Zdenka Pozaić, Ivo Prančič, Davorin Radić, Siniša Reberski, Tin Samaržija, Miran Šabić, Robert Šimrak, Ivica Šiško, Josip Škerlj, Matko Trebotić, Munir Vejzović, Zlatan Vrkljan, Josip Zanki and Marko Živković; a watercolour by Dino Trtovac and photo print by Ivan Posavec. Their artworks, as well as the verses by Luko Paljetak, represent an artistic farewell to the great Tonko, but also an attempt to preserve his image in Croatian culture, both in verse and in graphics, in a special way.
The publisher Božo Biškupić and the author of the crown of sonnets Luko Paljetak will participate in the programme of presenting the portfolio. The graphic design of the leaflet and poster is the work of the Split artist Viktor Popović.
Prominent academician, writer, art historian and publicist Tonko Maroević (1941 – 2020) finished primary school and classical grammar school in Split. He completed his studies of comparative literature and art history in 1963 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, where he received his doctorate in 1976. He was an assistant at the Department of Medieval History, editor in the Croatian language and an associate for the documentation of modern art. He has lectured at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb and at the Universities of Milan and Trieste.
From 1970 until his retirement he worked at the Institute of Art History in Zagreb. He has been a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 2002. He researched contemporary Croatian art, published art criticism and discussions, prefaces to catalogues, maps and monographs. He was also involved in literary work, translation and literary criticism.
As a literary critic, he systematically followed contemporary Croatian poetry, and also dealt with older Croatian literature and Italian issues; he collected essays, critiques and reviews in several books, and has published several independent poetry collections. He researched contemporary Croatian fine arts; he published art criticism and discussions in professional magazines and newspapers, wrote prefaces to catalogues and graphic maps, and translated from several languages.
He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work, namely the Seven Secretaries of SKOJ Award for art criticism, the Antun Gustav Matoš Award for literature, the Julije Benešić Award for literary criticism, the Olive Wreath Award and the Tin Ujević Award for poetry. He is also the winner of the “Vladimir Nazor” award for his life’s work in 2013 and the Goran’s Wreath award for his poetic opus in 2018.
The exhibition is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Stari Grad Municipality and Stari Grad Tourist Board.
We look forward to your visit!
In accordance with the recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19 infection during cultural programmes, the opening of the exhibition will be held in the garden of the museum (maximum 100 visitors). The maximum number of visitors who can be in the gallery at the same time is 20. Also, it is mandatory to use a face mask indoors and when it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 1.5 m outdoors.
Visitors are kindly asked to adhere to all epidemiological measures and to be responsible to themselves and to others.