engleski

State authorities and the heritage of noble families of eastern Croatia

In Croatia, before World War II, little has been written about the nobility art collections because they were privately owned, affecting the level of their examination. The turning point in history of nobility collections happened during and after World War II. In 1943, the Croatian Conservation Institute gave instructions to collectors on how to treat artworks and where to store them during the war. After the war, the most important role in the salvage of private art collections had the Commission for Collection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities of the Ministry of Education – Department of Culture and Arts in Zagreb (KOMZA), headed by Vladimir Tkalčić. From June 1945, it was saving materials from total destruction, being primarily composed of experts from Zagreb museums. They made an effort to salvage and collect cultural heritage and antiquities which had been confiscated, sequestered or abandoned by their owners. In eastern Croatia, KOMZA designated the State Museum in Osijek (Museum of Slavonia) as a collection center, whereas the staff, among which Dr. Sc. Danica Pinterović had the most prominent role, became collectors of materials from confiscated and war-ravaged Slavonian castles, manors and palaces. Their work was extremely difficult due to financial hardships, ignorance of local people about the value of nobility heritage, and sometimes due to deliberate obstruction out of personal interests. After the first phase of collecting materials, they were legally classified as community property and artworks were allocated to various scientific and cultural institutions, primarily libraries, museums and archives. Thus the salvaged part of the noble families’ heritage became potentially more available for expert analysis, but simultaneously, due to a series of unfavorable circumstances, it also underwent devastation. Part of the nobility collections was destroyed or stolen, historical documentation perished, and the collected material was transported and stored in very poor conditions. Given the situation, later on it was difficult to determine to which collection an artwork originally belonged and it was particularly hard to date and attribute artworks and recognize their content (especially portraits). Interesting is the fact that none of the people working in the KOMZA collection center in Osijek held a degree in art history. But thanks to great personal efforts and high level of professionalism of the museum staff, the material was saved from further devastation and theft, thus enabling subsequent research and presentation. Most of the confiscated items today make up the most valuable part of collections of furniture, decorative arts, prints, sculptures and paintings in the holdings of the Museum of Slavonia and the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek. The change of attitude of state authorities towards the issue of noble families’ property restitution (1990s – present) creates new challenges in the management and introduction of this part of national heritage to the public.

nobility ; works of art ; heritage ; eastern Croatia ; nobility’s collections

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