Anthological works by Ljubo Babić

Since mid-December of last year, a large exhibition entitled “Anthology” has been open to the public at the Modern Gallery. The exhibition features a collection of works by Ljubo Babić, a notable painter whose works made a mark on Croatian art in the first half of the 20th century. Visitors will have an opportunity to view the exhibition until March 27th.

Until March 27th, the Modern Gallery will be the venue for an exhibition of works by the great Croatian painter, Ljubo Babić (1890-1974). Titled “Anthology”, the exhibition has been organized to commemorate 120 years since the birth of this notable artist, whose works made a strong mark on Croatian art during the first half of the 20th century.

Ljubo Babić painted portraits, landscapes and still-nature using various painting and print techniques such as tempera, oil, watercolour, chalk drawing, etching, and lithography. Apart from painting, he also worked in set design, graphic design, book illustration, poster making, etc. He studied art and medicine in Munich; from 1940, he was a fulltime faculty member at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.

He won a Grand Prix at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern and Decorative Art in Paris for his work in set design, which was a great recognition to the Croatian art of set design as a whole.

This exhibition features the artist’s anthological works, the most sensational of which is the painting “Red Flags” from 1919. The painting had gone missing and its whereabouts had been a mystery for a very long time, but today it is owned by a private collector. Apart from paintings, portraits, drawings and sketches, the exhibition also features some of the artist’s other work. Among them are some fifty books, which he successfully illustrated.

The works of Ljubo Babić that are featured in this exhibition have been borrowed from several museums, as well as private collections from all over Croatia.