Museum of Arts and Crafts as a Generator of New Institutions in the Time of Director Vladimir Tkalčić (1933-1952)

Abstract

Vladimir Tkalčić held the function of Director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts from the beginning of September 1933 to June 1952, which was the period of his vocational maturity – from age 50 until his retirement. The paper provides insight into Tkalčić’s vision of the development of the institution and into his achievements which allowed, already in his lifetime, that practice systems be derived from the Museum of Arts and Crafts and funds be formed as a baseline for the establishment of new institutions in Zagreb, such as the conservation and restoration workshop of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Museum of Serbs in Croatia, and the Technical Museum. Interpretations of certain achievements that Tkalčić accomplished in conditions of economic and political instability, in a whirlwind of confusion combined with the violence of wartime, are inevitably imbued with controversy. Examination of the documentation fund of the Museum of Arts in Crafts, in the first place Tkalčić’s legacy and registry books from years of his mandate, provides an insight into the contextual mosaic of his complex endeavours, as well as into the set of his character qualities that supported the principles of professional ethics.