At the end of July, the Management Board of the Employment Agency adopted a decision requesting information from its services about all works of art in the Institute's premises and its offices throughout Montenegro, due to suspicions that some of the valuable works of art have been stolen in recent years, "Vijesti" learns.
The commission, which should list the works of art and determine which and when they disappeared, should complete the report on its work by the end of September.
The employment office owns dozens of valuable paintings and other works that it has bought or received from some of the most famous Montenegrin artists over the decades.
However, according to "Vijesti" information, the works of art have not been cataloged or taken care of for years. During the reconstruction of the spaces where they were exhibited, the works of art were removed, and many of them were not returned to their place after that, nor are they in storage.
It is also suspected that the painting of one of the most famous Montenegrin painters, Aleksandar Ac Prijić, has disappeared, which was on the wall in the office of the general director of the Employment Agency until 15 years ago. The request to form a commission to investigate the possible disappearance of works of art was initiated by the president of the Board of Directors, Dejan Vojvodić, after learning that Prijić's painting had disappeared.
The valuable painting was last found in the cabinet of director Branimir Bojanić and was there until his death in January 2008. After that, everything from the cabinet was taken out and it was reconstructed, but Prijić's painting was never seen again. Bojanić was replaced as executive director by Zoran Jelić.
Yesterday, he told "Vijesta" that he did not remember that picture and that it was certainly not in the cabinet when he took office. He also said that this is the first time he has heard that some works of art have disappeared from the Institute.
“I don't remember that picture. Census commissions should regularly list all the Institute's property, including inventory, including art paintings, regardless of whether the Institute bought them or they were donated to it. Those census commissions were paid for that work, and if there is no report or they didn't list something, it's their fault," Jelić said.
Aco Prijić's son, also an artist Đuro Beli Prijić, told "Vijesta" that he only knew that his father's picture was in the Institute, but that he did not remember which picture it was.
"I wouldn't even be able to estimate what its value would be now. I was also contacted by the Employment Office with the information that the picture has disappeared, but I don't know anything more than that," Prijić said.
He recently warned the public about the appearance of forged pictures of his father.
Aleksandar Aco Prijić received Montenegro's highest state award, the Thirteenth of July Award, twice in 1961 and 1965, and in 1985 was elected a member of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1973, he received one of the highest honors of the former Yugoslavia - the AVNOJ award. In CAN, he was vice president, then president of the fine arts department. He died in Nikšić on February 5, 1986.
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