About the Museums
About the Museums
The Museums Foundation
The Ivan Meštrović Museums are dedicated to the preservation, research and promotion of the work and life of Ivan Meštrović (1883 Vrpolje, Croatia – 1962 South Bend, Indiana, USA).
One of the most prominent Croatian artists of the first half of the 20th century, he acted as a sculptor, painter, architect and writer. With his Deed of Donation to the Croatian People of 1952, he donated numerous masterpieces, impressive architecture and refined spaces managed by the Ivan Meštrović Museums. The constituents of the Museums are located in four locations: his home and studio in Zagreb (The Meštrović Atelier), the family villa (The Meštrović Gallery) and renovated Renaissance castello (The Meštrović’s Crikvine – Kaštilac) in Split, and in Otavice (The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer), whence his family originated. In these spaces visitors have the opportunity to enjoy hundreds of his works.
In 1991 the Croatian Parliament adopted the Ivan Meštrović Foundation Act and thus united the locations from the Deed of Donation into a unique organization with its administrative centre in Zagreb. With the amendment of the Act in 2007, the Ivan Meštrović Foundation was renamed into the Ivan Meštrović Museums, and the administrative centre moved to Split.
Ivan Meštrović gained worldwide fame and reputation and has influenced generations of sculptors and artists in general. His works are preserved in museums, galleries and collections around the world, as well as in many public places where his statues still delight the public with their monumental character.
