Bogdan Borčić

BOGDAN BORČIĆ (1926, Ljubljana – 2014, Slovenj Gradec) was a painter and printmaker who studied at the painting school of Matej Sternen and drawings school of France Gorše in Ljubljana in the period 1943-1944. In 1944 he was arrested by the occupying forces and interned in Dachau concentration camp. After the World War Two he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana where he later worked as a professor, and in Paris. In 2005 he received Prešeren award for his oeuvre. He is one of the most significant artists of contemporary Slovene painting and one of the main representatives of Ljubljana School of Graphic Art. His work clearly shows the development of Modernist painting, starting with realistic representations and evolving through several phases of gradual disintegration of the object towards complete minimalistic – and, finally, associative – abstraction, with thoroughly present spirit of existentialism. Since 2001, the graphic cabinet holds a collection of 1046 authorized graphic prints, to which Borčić later added 145 drawings. Inside the cabinet there is also a collection of exhibition catalogues and a presentation of the most basic printing tools. Each year a new exhibition of artist’s work is set up in the cabinet showcasing the artist’s work in thematic blocks.