Mimara Museum

Mimara Museum
Established	1987
Location	Zagreb
Type	Art museum
Visitors	60,118 (2017)
Director	Lada Ratković-Bukovčan
Curator	Milica Japundžić, Slaven Perović, Lada Ratković-Bukovčan, Bruno Šeper, Iva Firm, Krešimir Juraga
Public transit access	tram No. 12, 13, 14 and 17; tram stop: Roosevelt Square
Website	www.mimara.hr

The Mimara Museum (Croatian: Muzej Mimara) 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-trotting private art collection of Ante Topić Mimara, who donated over 3750 priceless objects to his native Zagreb (even though he spent much of his life in Salzburg, Austria). Inside you'll find Ptolemaic glassware from Alexandria, delicate jade and ivory Qing-dynasty ornaments, ornate 14th-century wooden crosses encrusted with semiprecious stones and a vast European painting collection with works by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Bosch, Velázquez, Goya, Renoir and Degas.

For over thirty years, the Mimara Museum has been a centre of the artistic, cultural and social scene in Zagreb. When the museum opened on July 17th 1987, an important collection of art, the "masterwork" of one of the greatest art collectors in this part of the world, Ante Topić Mimara, was presented to the public. Mimara wished for his private art collection to become part of national heritage: the works of art from his private collection, which he bequeathed to the Croatian nation in 1973 and 1986, are now exhibited in the museum named Mimara after the donor.

History

An impressive monument of cultural heritage

Situated in the historical centre of Zagreb, close to the Green Horseshoe system of city parks, the neoclassical museum building dating from the second half of the 19th century is part of the typical urban architecture of Zagreb's Lower Town. It was built in 1896 as a complex of school buildings. Built in pseudo-renaissance style of the Italian urban palaces, the building is classified as architectural heritage protected by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. The monumental school building was built on the initiative of Dr Izidor Kršnjavi, a prominent Croatian figure in the late 19th century. In addition to the vast central building flanked by two wings, of special interest are the museum's atrium and the former school gym that was built in the style of ancient Greek temples. The three-storey school building was designed by A. Ludwig and L. Th. Hülssner, German architects who specialised in building schools in the entire Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

In 1985, Ante Topić Mimara expressed immense joy as he achieved his life’s goal and fulfilled his debt to his homeland and the Croatian people by opening the Museum in Zagreb.

Ante Topić Mimara, born on April 7, 1898, was not just a collector but also a painter, restorer, and lover of art. Despite spending most of his life outside Croatia, his passion for collecting art never waned. His dream was to turn his art collection into a museum, a project he actively worked on in his later years after moving to Zagreb.

Starting in the mid-1920s, Mimara began collecting art objects, a hobby that grew into a significant collection over the years. He lived in various European cities, including Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, and Berlin, always expanding his collection through visits to museums, galleries, antique shops, and auctions.

Even before World War II, Mimara had a noteworthy art collection, with professional texts about his works appearing in prestigious German art magazines. Despite living abroad, he kept Croatia close to his heart, always contemplating a return and a future donation.

In 1948, he made his first donation by giving numerous paintings and sculptures to Strossmayer’s gallery in Zagreb. The foundation of today’s Mimara Museum was established through his major donations in 1973 and 1986, including works from his collection and those of his wife, Prof. Dr. Wiltrud Topić Mersmann.

Collections within the museum:

A collection of ancient civilizations
Collection of drawings, graphics and illuminations
Collection of European sculpture
Collection of ivory
Collection of metals and other materials
Collection of ceramics and porcelain
Glass collection
Collection of furniture
A collection of textiles and rugs
Collection of Far Eastern art
Collection of icons
Flemish painting
Spanish painting
French painting
Italian painting
English painting
Dutch painting
German, Austrian and Swiss painting

A "small Louvre" in the centre of Zagreb

The hundred-year old schoolrooms of the grammar school were transformed into a gallery that is home to one of the most impressive and exhaustive art collections in this part of the world. Over 3,750 exhibits constituting the permanent display of the museum include prime samples of diverse material and technique from a geographically and historically broad collection of international arts and crafts. To walk through the exhibition rooms of the three-storey gallery building is to walk through a "three-dimensional art encyclopaedia" and visitors often leave with the impression that they have just experienced a "small Louvre".

The glass collection on the ground floor presents a history of glass making from the early items dated from 2000 B.C. to the late 19th century and includes fine samples of the glass making tradition in Venice and Murano. The oriental collection includes precious items made of fine china, semi-precious stones and other luxury materials.

The first floor is dedicated to ancient civilisations and a collection of European sculpting art and crafts. The old civilisations collection includes artefacts from the Mesopotamian civilisation, Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome. The oldest piece in the collection, a bone figurine of Venus from the early Palaeolithic age, testifies to the beginnings of artistic expression in mankind. Almost all historical styles of sculpture present in European civilisation are represented in this collection, from Romanesque sacral art to 20th century sculpture. Crafts are represented in collections of artefacts made of ivory, china, textiles, metal and other materials, and a furniture collection dating from the late 15th to the early 19th century that is part of the museum's permanent display.

The rooms on the second floor are dedicated to paintings by Italian, French, Flemish, Spanish and Dutch masters, dating from the Middle-Ages to the beginning of the 20th century, as well as a large collection of icons. Apart from works by old masters such as Paolo Veneziano, Rubens and Velázquez, impressionist art from the second half of the 19th century is well represented with Auguste Renoir's Bather, Édouard Manet's still-lifes and a number of pieces by Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro.

The Mimara Museum hosts cultural, social and business events

In addition to the gallery which is home to the art from the permanent display, important art exhibitions are occasionally organised in the atrium, the collector's room on the ground floor, and the studio in the basement.

The vast space of the arched atrium lined with marble pillars provides an elegant ambience for cultural events such as book promotions, award giving ceremonies in art and culture, press conferences and other types of events, including product or service presentations and gala dinners. The atrium can seat 200 people. Next to the atrium is a multimedia hall with the capacity of 100, well fitted for lectures and screening events. Across the hall from the multimedia room is the newly refurbished Gymnasium Cafe with a large terrace, which also offers catering services for all types of events.

The grand hall on the second floor of the museum, with a selection of old masters' paintings on display and walls decorated with gilded stucco makes a unique event space with the capacity of 200 seated guests, suitable for all types of events, from concerts to business conferences, conventions, lectures and presentations.

Museum Mimara – Reconstruction

The Mimara Museum faced significant damage during the earthquake. It had to close its doors to visitors from March 22, 2020. The roof of the building and the fancy hall on the second floor got really messed up. Even some of the cool art on display got damaged, but the good news is that they’re working hard to fix everything.

Fast forward to 2024, and the Mimara Museum is on the brink of a grand comeback. Despite facing significant damage in the earthquake, the restoration efforts are in full swing. The collective efforts to repair the building and restore damaged artworks symbolize a triumphant resurrection of this cultural gem.

Rumors

According to Thomas Hoving, "Topic Mimara's hoard of masterpieces are 95 percent fakes produced by him and his hired forgers."^[4]. On its opening, a "prominent Yugoslav art historian" told AP that "it might be the greatest collection of fakes in the world."^[5]. According to Federico Zeri, the preview contained "trash along with some good things. Ninety percent is junk."; Ante Topić Mimara built his collection by forging, but also by looting and swindling.^[6]

Of the total of 3,700 varied works of art, more than 1,500 exhibits constitute permanent holdings, dating from the prehistoric period up to the 20th century. Some of the most famous exhibits include works attributed to Lorenzetti, Giorgione, Veronese, Canaletto, 60 paintings to the Dutch masters Van Goyen, Ruisdael, 50 works attributed to the Flemish masters Van der Weyden, Bosch, Rubens, Van Dyck, more than 30 to the Spanish masters Velázquez, Murillo, Goya, some 20 paintings to the German masters Holbein, Liebermann, Leibl, some 30 paintings to the English painters Gainsborough, Turner, Bonington and more than 120 paintings attributed to the French masters Georges de La Tour, Boucher, Chardin, Delacroix, Corot, Manet, Renoir, Degas. The drawings collection holds some 200 drawings attributed to Bronzino, Guardi, Claude Lorrain, Le Brun, Oudry, Greuze, Géricault, and Friesz. The museum was opened in 1987. The building itself originates from the 19th century, its conversion to a museum overseen by a Zagreb architect Kuno Waidmann; originally it served as a gymnasium.

The Mimara Museum was damaged by the 2020 Zagreb earthquake and as of 2022 remains closed for repairs.^[7]

References

^ "Posjećenost hrvatskih muzeja u 2017. godini" (PDF). mdc.hr (in Croatian). Zagreb: Museum Documentation Center. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
^ a b "Zaposlenici". mimara.hr. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
^ "Info - Mimara museum". Retrieved 5 August 2012.
^ Thomas Hoving, Super Art Gems of New York City
^ Dusan Stojanovic, Art Display Opens, But One Expert Says Its Full of Fakes, AP, July 18, 1987
^ Konstantin Akinsha, Ante Topic Mimara,"The Master Swindler of Yugoslavia", ARTnews September 2001
^ "Muzej Mimara" (in Croatian). Mimara Museum. Retrieved 13 December 2021.