Дворци Србије

Naive Art Museum (Building at 10 Boška Đuričića Street)

Jagodina

The building of the Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art in Jagodina or shortened, the Museum of Naïve Art, is one of the most impressive buildings in Jagodina and since 1988 it has been under state protection as an immovable property, i.e. a cultural monument.

The building in which the Naïve Art Museum is located today was built in 1929 for the Ristić family. It was built on two levels, and after the adaptation of the basement in 1966, it gets the third level. It has a rectangular layout, and is made of stone and brick. Especially luxurious are the facades, which have a very strong decoration. Like all buildings of that time, it can be assessed as an eclectic building, with a strong influence of sezession, visible in the decoration and canopy that leans towards the Austrian and German type of Art Nouveau with Alpine motifs. The roof is four-pitched, has a very steep slope and is covered with grooved tiles.

Wikipedia/Nenad Stevanović

The cornice between the ground floor and the first floor is very harmoniously decorated with a series of stylized relief lilies. In the space above the window on the first floor, there are garlands, amphorae with flowers and floral metopes in white on the yellow background of the facade, which is a harmonious review of the neoclassical era. The eaves are richly decorated with white carved wooden elements. The monumental two-part entrance leads to a glass hall above which is a flat terrace with a concrete balustrade. The windows are three-part on the ground floor and two-part on the first floor. The facade is symmetrical, with a jutted out central part.

Currently, the building is undergoing a comprehensive reconstruction at an advanced stage. Everything is being renovated – from the facade and decorations, to the installations in the building. In addition to the building, a building with a glass facade was built, which will serve as an extension of the museum and gallery space.

The entrance to the building is generally free, since it is an open-type cultural institution, and the condition is currently assessed as satisfactory, and in the future as excellent.

Finally, the reconstruction of the Museum was completed in February 2022, when it was officially opened by Maja Gojković, Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia. The castle was upgraded in a modern style, that is, new rooms were added on the side, without disturbing the existing building. The modern part of the museum was built in the style of “shipbuilding” with glass walls and metal skeleton, and thanks to this expansion, those exhibits that had to be all the time or occasionally in the Museum’s part can fit in the museum during the exhibition. The Ministry of Culture and Information provided 340 million dinars for this project, which was successfully completed.

This project was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.