Nationalisation and Musealisation of Art Collections in Slovenia in the Light of Provenance Research

The purpose of the project is to investigate the contexts, mechanisms, and consequences of the nationalisation and musealisation of movable artistic heritage in Slovenia between 1918 and 1991. Additionally, through provenance research, the project aims to reconstruct the profiles of individual art collections and clarify the origins and fate of selected items.
After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, Slovenia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In this new state, attitudes toward old and foreign, particularly German, cultural heritage led to the inadequate valuation of visual arts and antiques, as well as the extensive transfer of ownership of former noble collections into the hands of the already established bourgeois, entrepreneurial, and intellectual elite. A significant portion of this heritage was sold off at public auctions below its value and selectively musealised. This period of great changes and achievements in national cultural endeavours was sharply interrupted in 1941 by the occupation of Slovenian territory, which resulted in significant losses of artistic and cultural heritage.
With the liberation of Yugoslavia on May 9, 1945, the newly established authorities in Slovenia exerted pressure on their actual and potential opponents, a significant part of which involved disappropriation of property. This led to the accumulation of large quantities of movable property, including many items of artistic and cultural heritage. Beginning in the fall of 1945, these items were gradually secured and inventoried in special collecting centres (FZC, OZC). The distribution of these items was only concluded in the early 1950s. The cultural policy of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, already established during the war, adopted a radical and dismissive stance toward the traditions and cultural heritage of the past. The new art of the new state was intended to justify and glorify the achievements of the people's revolution and the struggle against the occupiers, serving both class struggle and ideological education of the masses, whereas the scattered remnants of former art collections could not adequately serve the new cultural policies. However, regardless of their post-war fate and (often inappropriate) use, their origins became, and largely remained, an insignificant and silenced aspect of their identity.
Surprisingly little research has been conducted in Slovenia on these processes and their consequences for artistic heritage, even though the artworks affected by them constitute an important part of the collections held by public museums and galleries in Slovenia. In addition to addressing questions about how movable artistic heritage was collected, used, managed, and protected in the name of the nation during this period, and how its reception and valuation influenced its presentation, preservation, and accessibility, one of the central tasks of the project is a comprehensive investigation of the origins and fates of selected collections and individual artworks that were musealised and/or nationalised in Slovenia between 1918 and 1991.
Given the scope and complexity of the topic, the project proposes several case studies focusing on museum policies, wartime public auctions, private and public or state collections, as well as collectors and collecting centres. These studies will also enable the reconstruction of selected art collections. For the first time, this research will address questions of the identity, origins, and state of preservation of nationalised art collections in Slovenia and will raise the issue of how to deal with the complexities of managing public collections with unclear or missing provenance data. The decision to undertake this project also stems from the realization that both the Slovenian professional and general public are insufficiently informed, and at times misinformed, about the history and identity of nationalised artistic heritage, as well as the role and importance of provenance research. Therefore, one of the goals is to raise awareness about this sensitive but highly important issue.

The main objectives of the proposed research:

– Analysis of the mechanisms and consequences of musealisation of art collections;
– Identification and analysis of the provenance of selected nationalised and/or musealised art collections and individual works of art and their past contexts;
– Examination of the reception, role and preservation status of the artistic heritage of (defeated) opponents in new political and social contexts;
– Developing up-to-date theoretical and methodological approaches to mapping and reconstructing the nationalised and/or musealised art collections;
– Developing an innovative digital and sustainable strategic approach to the presentation, protection and preservation of cultural heritage of contested provenance.