Tone Kralj (1900–1975): Visoinary Mystic

National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

The exhibition of Tone Kralj, that is the result of collaboration between National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana, and Galerija Božidar Jakac – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Kostanjevica na Krki, is dedicated to this year’s double anniversary – the 125th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death.

Tone Kralj is one of the most recognisable visual artists from Slovenia, who is widely acclaimed across Europe. He is considered one of the founders of Expressionism and New Objectivity in Slovenia. The exhibition of representative Kralj paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, mostly from the pre-World War II period, will also include new acquisitions of Galerija Božidar Jakac that have not been displayed to the public for decades, as well as a selection of works from the collection of the National Gallery of Slovenia. Among other highlights, after conservation work (by the Restoration Centre of the IPCHS), the monumental work Salome (1931) will be on public view for the first time.

Image: Tone Kralj, Self-Portrait with the Wife, 1932. Collection GBJ.