Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection
A diplomat's donated collection of Serbian modernist painting in a purpose-built 1961 gallery.
Pavle Beljanski was a Serbian diplomat who assembled one of the finest private holdings of twentieth-century Serbian art while serving abroad between the wars. In 1957 he signed an agreement with the authorities of Vojvodina transferring the collection to public ownership, on condition that a building be raised to house it. The gallery on Trg galerija, designed by the architect Ivo Kurtović specifically for the donation, opened to visitors on 22 October 1961.
The permanent display holds some 185 paintings, sculptures and tapestries by 37 artists, running from Nadežda Petrović and the early modernists through the interwar generation to the years after the Second World War. A memorial hall added in 1966 reconstructs Beljanski's study and living rooms with his furniture and personal effects. The museum also keeps a research library and an archive of sketches, letters and photographs relating to the artists represented.
Highlights
- 185 works by 37 Serbian and Yugoslav artists
- Purpose-built 1961 gallery by Ivo Kurtović
- Memorial hall recreating the collector's study
- Archive of artists' sketches, letters and photographs
