07.04. - 20.05.2018.

Ante Topić Mimara - Donatorstvo kao sudbina - izložba u povodu 120. obljetnice donatorova rođenja

„Ante Topić Mimara
Donatorstvo kao sudbina„
Izložba u povodu 120. obljetnice donatorova rođenja
Muzej Mimara, 7. travnja – 20. svibnja 2018.

Preuzmite: Press release / Donatorstvo kao sudbina - izložba u povodu 120. obljetnice donatorova rođenja (press kit)

Obilježiti 120. godišnjicu rođenja donatora Ante Topića Mimare (Korušce, 7. travnja 1898. – Zagreb, 30. siječnja 1987.), slikara, restauratora i kolekcionara, znači obilježiti punoću jednoga iznimnog života određenoga velikim željama, upornošću, naporima, uspjesima… To je ujedno sjećanje na njegovu ličnost, karizmatičnu i nesumnjivo jedinstvenu, o čemu svjedoče riječi onih koji su ga poznavali, koji su se susretali s njim i svoje dojmove o njemu bilježili u trenutcima istinskog ushita ili pri sagledavanju njegova životnog djela.

Svoju je donatorsku nakanu Ante Topić Mimara iskazao već 1948. darovavši Strossmayerovoj galeriji starih majstora u Zagrebu zbirku od 84 djela (potvrđeno ugovorom iz 1967.). Apsolutno ostvarenje njegove vizije i životnog cilja kojemu su vodili svi rukavci njegova burnog životnog puta jest otvorenje Muzeja Zbirka umjetnina Ante i Wiltrud Topić Mimara na Rooseveltovu trgu 5 u Zagrebu. Muzej je utemeljen na osnovi ugovora o darovanju iz 1973., a dodatkom donaciji iz 1986. Mimara je proširio zbirku s još tisuću djela, tako da ona ukupno ima 3750 djela. Za potrebe Muzeja – stalnog postava i pohrane umjetnina – adaptiran je središnji dio tzv. Školskog foruma što su ga 1895. projektirali njemački arhitekti Ludwig i Hülsner prema ideji Ise Kršnjavoga, predstojnika Odjela za bogoštovlje i nastavu Zemaljske vlade (1891. – 1896.).

Dana 17. srpnja 2017. Muzej Mimara obilježio je 30. obljetnicu djelovanja. Uz tu prigodu organizirana je izložba i objavljen katalog koji su jasno upozorili na svu slojevitost značaja Muzeja – na njegovu misiju prezentiranja bogatog fundusa unutar stalnog postava, izložbi djela iz fundusa i publikacija te na stotine i na tisuće raznorodnih kulturnih događanja (izložbe suvremenih umjetnika, međunarodne izložbe, koncerte, promocije monografija itd.), što ga je pozicioniralo kao jedno od najvećih i najvažnijih kulturnih središta Zagreba i Hrvatske. Time je potvrđena i ostvarena donatorova želja da njegova donacija bude adekvatno zbrinuta i prezentirana, ali i mnogo širi planovi koje je imao. Naime, Ante Topić Mimara uvijek je iznova naglašavao želju da njegova zbirka bude izvorištem spoznaja i istinskog užitka za sve naraštaje i da Muzej, kako zbirkom, tako i svojim svekolikim djelovanjem, bude vrutak kulturnog života naše domovine i privlačno odredište posjetitelja iz cijeloga svijeta.

Listajući ovaj spomenar, još se jedanput prisjećamo utemeljitelja Muzeja i njegova poslanja, njegovih riječi i njegove nemjerljivo vrijedne ostavštine. Na njega nas podsjećaju i zabilježeni dojmovi suradnika koji su pri susretima s njim upijali značaj njegovih zamisli i bili poneseni snagom njegove osobnosti. Prezentacija stalnog postava, temeljni pregled zbirki i njima posvećenih znanstveno-edukativnih publikacija i izložaba i uz obilježavanje ove obljetnice pokazuju kako vrijeme uvijek iznova potvrđuje veličinu i značenje njegova čina.

I u ovoj prilici ponovo iskazujemo svoje poštovanje i zahvalnost donatoru Anti Topiću Mimari, svjesni da nam je činiti samo jedno – svakodnevno nastaviti promicati puninu njegove vizije.

mr. sc. Lada Ratković Bukovčan, ravnateljica Muzeja Mimara

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Ante Topić Mimara – Biografija
Donator Ante Topić Mimara rođen je 7. travnja 1898. u malome mjestu Korušce, u krševitoj Dalmatinskoj zagori, kao sin Šimuna Topića Matutina i Jandre rođene Šolić. Već kao dječarac, odlazeći u Split i slušajući na njegovim uličicama i na iskopinama Salone riječi don Frane Bulića, u sebi je prepoznao neodoljiv, mističan zov prošlosti i njezinih za vječnost sačuvanih djela. Godine njegova odrastanja i sazrijevanja obilježio je vihor Prvoga svjetskog rata, koji ga je bespoštedno bacio u blatne rovove i neizvjesne bitke. Teško je ranjen u bitci kod Piave 1917. Kao demobiliziran i iz zarobljeništva otpušten vojnik, nakon završetka rata našao se 1918. u Rimu. U Mancinijevu slikarskom atelijeru uz slikanje se posvetio i izučavanju restauratorskog umijeća te je s divljenjem upijao bujnu, izvorišnu povijest, kulturu i umjetnost toga grada, što je označilo početak njegova strasnoga skupljačkog puta.

Intenzivan život predan umjetnosti, koju je do najtananijih dubina razumijevao, poznavao i osjećao te je držao neizostavnim dijelom svog postojanja, nakon Rima nastavlja u Parizu i Berlinu, stvarajući u međuraću svoju sve respektabilniju zbirku umjetnina s kojom upoznaje ugledne stručnjake; sudjeluje na aukcijama i posjećuje najveće europske antikvarijate. Kao veliki zanesenjak umjetnošću, redovit je i vjeran posjetitelj brojnih izložaba diljem Europe. Druži se s mnogim uglednim povjesničarima umjetnosti i arheolozima: Bodeom, Volbachom, Friedländerom i, osobito, Ottom von Falkeom, direktorom Berlinskih muzeja, koji je u stručnom časopisu Pantheon 1940-ih godina više puta publicirao djela iz Mimarine zbirke.

Početak Drugoga svjetskog rata Mimara je dočekao u Berlinu, iz kojega se uskoro povlači u malo mjesto Lörrach u Oberrheinu, gdje skriva svoju zbirku. Kao žrtva denuncijacije i općeg nepovjerenja prema strancima koje je vladalo u tadašnjoj Njemačkoj, Mimara biva zatvoren i proživljava okrutne torture nacističkog zatvora. Nakon izlaska iz zatvora, slabog zdravlja, ponovo se povlači u Lörrach, gdje je dočekao kraj rata.

Nakon rata Mimara nastavlja živjeti u Berlinu i Münchenu. Radi kao savjetnik za restituciju otuđenih kulturnih dobara pri Jugoslavenskoj vojnoj misiji u Münchenu. Poratno je vrijeme za Antu Topića Mimaru istodobno značilo i nastavak borbe za očuvanje zbirke. Političke prilike u Berlinu nagnale su ga da svoje umjetnine preseli najprije u Antwerpen, da bi se konačno ranih 1950-ih, zajedno sa zbirkom, našao u Tangeru, u Maroku. Godine 1963. nastanjuje se u Salzburgu, gdje čuva dio zbirke, stalno je obogaćujući novim umjetninama.

Poriv i želju da svoju raskošnu zbirku podari Hrvatskoj i njezinu narodu ostvaruje već 1948. donirajući je Strossmayerovoj galeriji HAZU u Zagrebu (potvrđena ugovorom iz 1967.). Donacija je prezentirana na izložbi održanoj 1969. Svojim skupljačkim zanosom nastavlja povećavati zbirku pretvarajući je u istinski dragulj u kojemu se trajnim sjajem prelijevaju raznorodna ostvarenja nastala kroz tisućljeća ljudskoga stvaralaštva. Kao odličan poznavatelj umjetnosti i istinski zaljubljenik u umjetnička djela, i dalje neumorno istražuje i sudjeluje na brojnim aukcijama, a predmeti iz njegove zbirke nalaze svoje mjesto u katalozima aukcija, na mnogim izložbama i u stručnim člancima.

Ugovorom o donaciji iz 1973. (Ugovor su potpisali donator Ante Topić Mimara i ministar kulture Veseljko Velčić) ostvarene su pretpostavke i temelji za novi muzej, a Mimarina je želja da on bude otvoren u Zagrebu. Dodatkom ugovoru iz 1986. donator upotpunjuje bogati fundus darovan domovini (ministar kulture tada je bio dr. sc. Božidar Gagro). U tim godinama Mimara veći dio vremena provodi u Zagrebu, u kući u Basaričekovoj ulici, na Gornjem gradu. Nakon što je odustao od smještanja zbirke u adaptirani jezuitski samostan na Gornjem gradu, godinama je traženo novo rješenje. U tom je međurazdoblju dio Mimarine zbirke 1983. izložen u Vili Prekrižje (tadašnjoj Vili Zagorje), a u Muzejskom prostoru (današnjoj Galeriji Klovićevi dvori) organizirane su 1985. izložbe Mimara – Iz svijeta samuraja, Molitveni ćilimi i mošejske lampe iz Zbirke Ante Topića Mimare te, najveća od njih, Zbirka Ante Topić Mimara – Kineska umjetnost (ministar kulture bio je dr. sc. Stipe Šuvar, predsjednik Savjeta Muzeja ATM u osnivanju mr. sc. Vladimir Pezo, a dugogodišnji ravnatelj Muzejskog prostora gospodin Ante Sorić). Karizmatičan i inteligentan, golemog znanja i širokih interesa, gospodin Ante Topić Mimara plijeni pozornost svih koji su ga imali priliku sresti, a ti su trenutci njegovih susreta s umjetnicima, književnicima... bivali sve češći i svi oni i danas nose nezaboravne uspomene na susrete s velikim donatorom.

Radi ostvarenja donatorova životnog poslanja, adaptiran je središnji prostor tzv. Školskog foruma na Rooseveltovu trgu 5. Kompleks što su ga projektirali njemački arhitekti Ludwig i Hülsner izgrađen je 1895. na poticaj Ise Kršnjavoga, predstojnika Odjela za bogoštovlje i nastavu Zemaljske vlade u razdoblju 1891. – 1896. Autori adaptacije su arhitekti Mihajlo Kranjc, Ivo Piteša, Matija Salaj i Berislav Šerbetić. Mimara je prihvatio rješenje i koncepciju stalnoga muzejskog postava, detaljno razrađenu u scenariju u srpnju 1986. No igrom sudbine donator je preminuo u Zagrebu 30. siječnja 1987. ne dočekavši otvorenje Muzeja.

Prof. dr. Wiltrud Topić Mersmann, ugledna profesorica Salzburškog sveučilišta i donatorova supruga, koja mu je bila potpora u plemenitom činu darivanja, otvorila je 17. srpnja 1987. Muzej Mimara, punog naziva Zbirka umjetnina Ante i Wiltrud Topić Mimara. Dr. Wiltrud Topić Mersmann i u idućim je desetljećima nastavila hvale vrijednu suradnju s Muzejom, nesebično prenoseći svoje znanje muzejskim djelatnicima pri svakom susretu te objavivši, među ostalim, i studije s obradom predmeta iz zbirke.
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(Dokumentacija i izdanja Muzeja Mimara - Katalog Muzeja Mimara 1987. = Katalog Muzeja Mimara/Mimara MuseumCatalogue (ur./ed. Tugomir Lukšić). Zagreb: Muzej „Zbirka umjetnina Ante i Wiltrud Topić Mimara“ – u osnivanju, 1987., str./pp. 35 - 38; Muzej Mimara 2017.= Muzej Mimara: 30 godina djelovanja 30 godina s vama./The Mimara Museum: 30 Years of Work, Our 30 Years Together (ur./ed. Lada Ratković Bukovčan). Zagreb: Muzej Mimara, 2017., str./pp. 16 - 20)

ANTE TOPIĆ MIMARA – DONATION AS DESTINY
Exhibition Marking the 120th Anniversary of the Donor's Birth
To mark the 120th anniversary of the birth of the donor Ante Topić Mimara (Korušce, 7 April 1898 – Zagreb, 30 January 1987), painter, restorer and collector, means to convey the fullness of an exceptional life defined by great aspirations, persistence, effort, success … It also means to remember his personality, which was charismatic and undoubtedly unique, as is evidenced by the words of those who knew him, those who met him and recorded their impressions of him in moments of true elation or in moments of overviewing his life’s work.

The intention to make a donation he expressed as early as 1948 through a donation of 140 artefacts to the Strossmayer Gallery of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb (which was confirmed by the Contract of 1967). The absolute realization of his vision and his life goal, to which all the roads of his tempestuous life led, was the opening of the Ante and Wiltrud Topić Mimara Art Collection at Rooseveltov trg 5 in Zagreb. The Museum was founded by the Deed of Gift of 1973, and in the Annex to the Deed of Gift of 1986 Mimara enriched the collection with a thousand additional artefacts, and brought it to a total of 3,750 works. The central part of the so-called school forum, designed by German architects Ludwig and Hülsner in 1895 after the idea of Isidor Kršnjavi, head of the Department of Religious Affairs and Education in Croatia (from 1891 to 1896), was adapted for the needs of the museum – the permanent exhibit and storage of the artefacts.
On 17 July 2017 the Mimara Museum celebrated 30 years of work. An exhibition was mounted on the occasion and a catalogue published, which clearly convey all the complexity of the importance of the Museum – its mission of presenting the rich holdings through the permanent exhibit, its numerous exhibitions and publications, and hundreds and thousands of various cultural events (exhibitions by contemporary artists, international exhibitions, concerts, launches of monographs, etc.), which positioned it as one of the largest and most important cultural hubs in Zagreb and Croatia. This meant the realization of the donor’s wish that his donation be adequately housed and presented, as well as of the much broader plans that he had for the museum. Namely, Ante Topić Mimara always expressed his wish for his collection to serve as a resource of knowledge and true enjoyment for all generations, and for the Museum through its collection and its overall activity to be the font of cultural life of our homeland and an attractive destination for visitors from the entire world.

Leafing through this album of memories, we remember once more the founder of the Museum and his mission, his words and his immensely valuable legacy. We are reminded of him by the recorded impressions of his associates who, in their meetings, soaked in the significance of his ideas and who were enthused by the power of his personality. This presentation of the permanent exhibition and the basic outline of the museum collections and the scholarly-educational publications and exhibitions dedicated to them show on the occasion of this anniversary too that time always confirms anew the greatness and importance of his act of donation.

We take this opportunity to yet again express our respect and gratitude to the donor Ante Topić Mimara, aware that we need to do just one thing – continue to promote every day the fullness of his vision.

Lada Ratković Bukovčan, M.A., Director of the Mimara Museum

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Ante Topić Mimara – Biography
Ante Topić Mimara, son of Šimun Topić Matutin and Jandra, née Šolić, was born on 7 April 1898 in the small village of Korušce in the Dalmatian hinterland, a karst region. Already as a boy on his trips to Split, where he listened to the words of Don Frane Bulić in the city streets and around the excavated ruins of Salona, he recognized the irresistible, mystical call of the past and its works preserved for eternity. His growing up and coming of age was marked by the whirlwind of World War I, which flung him relentlessly into muddy trenches and uncertain battles. He was severely wounded in the Battle of the Piave River in 1917. After the end of the war, as a demobilized soldier and a released prisoner of war he found himself in Rome in 1918. At Mancini’s painting atelier, along with painting he began to study art conservation, and immersed himself admiringly into the bountiful and influential history, culture and art of that city; this marked the inception of his passion for art collection.

After Rome, in Paris and Berlin he pursued his intense commitment to art, which he understood, knew and felt to its finest nuances, and which he considered an indispensable part of his life. In the interwar period he started building up an increasingly significant art collection, which he introduced to renowned experts. He attended auctions and visited well-known European antique shops, and in his great enthusiasm for art he devotedly frequented exhibitions held across Europe. He kept company with a wide circle of renowned art historians and archaeologists: Bode, Volbach, Friedländer, and especially Otto von Falke, director of the Berlin Museums who presented on several occasions in the 1940s artefacts from his collection in Pantheon, a scholarly journal.

At the outbreak of World War II Mimara was in Berlin, from where he soon retreated to a small town of Lörrach in Oberrhein, where he hid his collection. As a victim of denunciation and the general mistrust of foreigners that was widespread in Germany at the time, Mimara was imprisoned and suffered in a Nazi prison. Upon getting out of prison in weak health, he again retreated to Lörrach, where he resided when the end of the war came.

After the war Mimara lived in Berlin and Munich. As an advisor at the Yugoslav military mission he worked in Munich on restitution of stolen cultural goods. At the same time, the post-war period was for Ante Topić Mimara a time when he continued to fight for the preservation of his collection. The political circumstances in Berlin made him move the artefacts first to Antwerp, and then in the early 1950s he moved with his collection to Tangier in Morocco. In 1963 he settled in Salzburg, where he kept one part of the collection, continually enriching it with new artefacts.

His goal and desire to make a donation of his lavish collection to Croatia and its people he realized as early as 1948 through a donation to the Strossmayer Gallery of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb (which was confirmed by the Contract of 1967). The donation was presented at an exhibition held in 1969. Due to his passion for collecting, his collection continued to grow, becoming a veritable gem that reflects in permanent brilliance the diverse artistic achievements created over millennia of human creativity. A great connoisseur and true lover of art he kept tirelessly researching and participating at numerous auctions, and objects from his collection get featured in auction catalogues, exhibition catalogues and scholarly articles.

The Deed of Gift of 1973 (signed by the donor Ante Topić Mimara and the Minister of Culture Veseljko Velčić) created the framework for the new museum, which Mimara wished to be located in Zagreb. Subsequent negotiations with the donor were conducted by Stipe Šuvar, the Minister of Culture. An Annex to the Deed of Gift of 1986 made additions to the already rich donation to the homeland (the Minister of Culture at the time was Božidar Gagro). In those years the donor resided a greater part of his time in Zagreb, in the house in Basaričekova ulica, in Upper Town. After abandoning the idea of housing the collection at the adapted Jesuit monastery in Upper Town, and after years of searching for a new solution, the donor exhibited a part of his collection in 1983 at Vila Prekrižje (then called Vila Zagorje); in 1985 the Museum Space (the Klovićevi dvori Gallery today) hosted exhibitions Mimara – from the World of the Samurai, Prayer Rugs and Mosque Lamps from the Collection of Ante Topić Mimara, and (the largest of these) The Ante Topić Mimara Collection – Chinese Art (the president of the council of the museum in the process of founding was Vladimir Pezo, and Ante Sorić was the museum director of many years).

To make the donor’s life mission come true, the central part of the so-called School Forum (built in 1895) at Rooseveltov trg 5 was adapted. The complex, designed by German architects Ludwig and Hülsner, was built in 1895 at the initiative of Isidor Kršnjavi, head of the Department of Religious Affairs and Education in Croatia from 1891 to 1896. The authors of the adaptation were architects Mihajlo Kranjc, Ivo Piteša, Matija Salaj and Berislav Šerbetić. The donor agreed to the arrangement and the concept for the permanent exhibit of the Museum, which was articulated in detail in the design concept made in 1986. However, as destiny would have it, the donor died in Zagreb on 30 January 1987, without living to see the opening of his Museum.

Professor dr. Wiltrud Topić Mersmann, a renowned professor at the University of Salzburg, and the donor’s wife, who supported him in his generous decision to make the donation, opened the Mimara Museum on 17 July 1987 (the full name of the Museum being The Ante and Wiltrud Topić Mimara Art Collection). Dr. Wiltrud Topić Mersmann continued over the subsequent decades her praiseworthy cooperation with the Museum; whenever she met with the Museum staff she generously shared her expertise, and she also published studies presenting objects from the Collection.
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(Documentation and publications of the Mimara Museum)