The Parliament of Montenegro owns works of art whose value is estimated at almost 387 thousand euros, which are exhibited in its halls, corridors, cabinets...
This is shown by the data that the parliament recently published on its website, acting on a request for free access to information submitted to them by the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT).
That non-governmental organization requested an extract from the records of movable property (as of December 31 last year) on objects of artistic and cultural value, their authors, the year they were created, the year they came into the possession of the institution and the way in which they became its property.
Among the 48 works of art owned by the Assembly, almost all of them are artistic paintings (44), by prominent authors such as Petar Lubarda, Milo Milunović, Branko Filipović Filo, Vojo Tatar, Aleksandar Prijić, Nikola Vujosevic... The premises of the highest legislative chamber are also decorated with works Slobodan Pura Đurić, Tom Pavićević, Naod Zorić, Srđan Vukčević...
One of Lubarda's monumental works - "Sutjeska", which is exhibited in the plenary hall, where the parliament sessions are held, was assessed as the most valuable. That work, for which he is a theorist of culture and art Niko Martinović wrote that it is "one of the most dramatic and suggestive cries against fascism", it was estimated at 120 thousand euros.
In the records of the Assembly, the year of creation of that picture is not stated, but it is mentioned in 1956 in several publications.
The second, by estimation, the most expensive painting is also Lubarda's work - "Motif from Skadar lake (evening)" from 1958, which is worth 45 thousand euros.
In third place in terms of estimated value is one of the most controversial works from the parliament's collection - a painting Ljubomir Popadić where the session of the Assembly held on June 3, 2006, where the Declaration of Independence of Montenegro was proclaimed, was shown. That tribute is estimated at 30 thousand euros, and is located on the wall next to the staircase leading to the second floor of the Assembly.
The picture was posted at the end of November 2014, and the reaction of the MPs to it was mixed. Namely, as the opposition at the time boycotted the session where the Declaration was proclaimed, because it did not recognize the results of the referendum, the picture shows only representatives of the government, the judiciary and the prosecutor's office, the deputies of the then ruling coalition of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), representatives of the parties less numerous nations, and the president of the referendum commission František Lipka and representative of the President of the European Parliament for the referendum Jelko Kacin.
At the time, the opposition said that Popadić's work was used to "force division", while the authorities welcomed the installation of the picture. However, some members of the DPS criticized the work, stating that they did not like it and that "a good photo is better than a bad picture".
When the picture arrived in the Parliament, the news reported that it was from the office of the head of the parliament at the time Ranka Krivokapića it was explained that it was ordered during 2006, that a special commission was formed for this reason and that it was done in accordance with the rules...
Among the more valuable are the untitled works by Branko Filipović Fil and Tom Pavićević, which are estimated at 15 thousand and 12 thousand euros, and "Mreže" by Milo Milunović, also worth 12 thousand euros.
The mystery of Kuhn's painting
The paintings are valued at 10 each Nedjeljko Gvozdenović "From the studio" and "Portrait of Ivan Milutinović" Đorđe Andrejević Kun.
Anrejević Kun's painting is also a source of controversy, because Montenegrin institutions do not know how the oil on canvas, created in 1953, ended up in the Parliament. In 2018, the legislative chamber told Vijesta that they had no information since when the painting was in the parliament, and whether the work was bought or donated.
"Also, there is no information that since the period of recording, the said work has been taken for restoration," the institution stated at the time.
Kun's family, as Vijesti wrote, has no information in its records about the portrait of the national hero from 1953. And in the monograph Momčilo Stevanović about Andrejević, it is written that all three works depicting Milutinović are from 1950. The monograph says that one of them, measuring 162x113 millimeters, without a signature, is in the Art Gallery in Cetinje. However, the National Museum of Montenegro had no information that Kun's work was ever in Cetinje.
The Ministry of Culture then told the News that this work was not in the possession of the former Cetinje Art Gallery, but that it was in the lists of works of art in the possession of the Executive Council of the former Federal Republic of Montenegro.
Sculptures, coats of arms, marble slabs
In addition to the paintings, as can be seen from the bookkeeping records, the Parliament owns one wooden sculpture worth 2,5 thousand euros, wooden panels with the state coats of arms, a mosaic with the coat of arms located in front of the Blue Hall of the Parliament, and two marble slabs with carved with the text about the creation of the parliament, which are placed in its hall.
The wooden board with coats of arms, whose purchase value was estimated at 2,5 thousand euros, and the marble slabs, estimated at 50 euros, were written off in value of 2.499 euros, i.e. 19,99 euros. However, it is unclear why.
The Assembly, in response to the CDT's request, stated that the assessment of the value of art paintings was carried out by the commission of the National Museum of Montenegro in 2010. In that year, they add, an assessment of all movable property of the Assembly was carried out, and then they were entered into the accounting records for the first time. records of parliament.
"At the request of the Assembly, the valuation of movable property was done by the Association of Independent Appraisers of Montenegro in accordance with Article 67 of the Law on State Property... and the letter from the Ministry of Finance informing all consumer units that 'in cases where they do not have the appropriate documentation (inherited and other assets), under the obligation to evaluate these assets at fair market values in accordance with international accounting standards", the Assembly's response reads.
They buy or get pictures
The parliament states that, given that the assessment of all movable property was done in 2010, they do not have information on how they were acquired (before the assessment) - on the basis of purchase or as a gift. The exception, they emphasize, is Popadić's painting dedicated to the Declaration of Independence.
They explain that the Property Administration informed the Legislative Chamber that, in accordance with its request, it initiated the procedure for the acquisition of an artistic painting that would show the event of the restoration of Montenegrin statehood and that this painting is the property of the Assembly.
In the catalog "Art collection of the Parliament of Montenegro" from 2017, it is written that her collection consists of works of art bought from artists or received as gifts.
And the five-pointed object of dispute in Milutinović's portrait
Andrejević's portrait of the national hero Milutinović was also discussed in 2019, when Ranko Krivokapić announced that the painting had been torn up in the basement of the parliament for a while, and that the pentacle was not painted on it.
Krivokapić said this in response to the question of former Democratic Front MP Marina Jočić, whether the five-pointed star was erased during his mandate. Jočić claimed that Milutinović's cap once had a pentacle.
"The picture was torn in the basement of the Assembly. We asked them to renovate it, they said that there were no five-pointers, and of course I insisted on authenticity, not on rewriting history. As you can see, I, who would like to see the pentagram, did not ask for it to be put on," Krivokapić said.
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