- Publisher: Slovenska matica
- 317 pages
- Author: Aleksander Bassin
- Original title: Obris mojega časa
The Contours of my Time by Aleksander Bassin, an untiring, widely knowledgeable and critical connoisseur, initiator and organiser of modern art, published in the book series Memories and Encounters, is both a sumptuous memoir work and a rich historical document on the art and culture of the 20th century. This is an author whose career trajectory had been set by his family origin marked by art, continuing to go on today through a symbiosis with the artists Mojca Smerdu and Tobias Putrih, and a wide circle of Slovenian and world artists. His grandfather, the famous cultural patron dr. Fran Windischer who, among other things, served as president of the National Gallery society in 1929–1949, had enabled him at an early age to enter the world of great spirits of the Slovenian nation, be it through personal visits to Plečnik, Jakopič and other artists, or through the seeing of exhibitions. Bassin preserved and nourished a lively interest in art during all his career steps, both within state administration, beginning as the secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts, but primarily in his final role as the director of the Ljubljana City Gallery, whose exhibits space he enterprisingly widened, bringing into it top Slovenian and world artists; as the founder of the Yugoslavia Biennale of Small Sculpture; president of the Fine Art Critics Association; as a selector, curator, president or member of numerous Yugoslav, Slovenian and international art juries, particularly as an official in the international association of art critics, AICA. Right until today he has been in a vibrant contact with contemporary art flows, first as a very engaged contributor to daily press and, simultaneously and later, as the author of numerous exhibition catalogues and fine art monographs. Family warmth portrayed in the book’s memoir part with a literary skill, and the commendably collected documentary materials relating to his exciting career period, are the author’s tribute to his own life and time, on which he continues to leave a mark.
Aleksander Bassin
With his passionate energy and active vitalism, Aleksander Bassin (b. 1938) has demonstrated his love of both sports and art. If not for other reasons, he came to be close to art in the culturally rich home environment due to his grandfather, dr. Fran Windischer, a president of the National Gallery society, and a patron to artists. Although Bassin first earned a degree in law, it was already when he was a contributor to the Perspektive journal, the secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts and a critic that he was predominantly looking into the art world. He has earned a reputation as a dynamic organiser, selector and manager of exhibitions, a member of juries, court expert on art, a connoisseur and advocate of selected artists, and a dedicated director of the Ljubljana City Gallery, while also being active in the broader Yugoslav and world art contexts. It was particularly as an official in the international association of art critics, AICA, that he, in the course of the many travels to world congresses, intently established contacts with connoisseurs and artists, trying to make use of every chance to affirm modern Slovenian art in the greatest possible degree.
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