A Contribution to the Interpretation of “The Problem of Collective Art” by Krsto Hegedušić

Abstract

“Problem umjetnosti kolektiva” [The problem of Collective Art] by Krsto Hegedušić, published in the journal Almanah savremenih problema in 1932, is his seminal text. It is a kind of synthesis of his thoughts about art and its role in the contemporary society, and contains all the fundamental artistic and ideological tenets of the Artist’s Association Zemlja. This paper offers a possible contribution to the interpretation of that crucial text: its place within the author’s art-critical and theoretical oeuvre, and its anatomy. An insight will be provided into its structure and content, and its conceptual models will be discussed (from August Cesarec and Miroslav Krleža to George Grosz) in order to give an assessment of its theoretical reach, especially in comparison with Krleža’s “Preface” to the Motifs from Podravina. As one of the most significant texts on artistic issues in the interwar period, “The Problem of Collective Art” is a rich source of ideas about the social potential of art and a testimony of a stratified society outside the European cultural centres; therefore, it deserves the special attention of anyone with a deeper interest in the social aspects of Croatian modern art.