Gerard Meulensteen, founder of the Bratislava-based Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum and a major supporter of the arts, has died at the age of 83. The Dutch collector supported art projects in Slovakia from the 1990s and between 1999 and 2016 played a key role in developing Danubiana, which he later donated to Slovakia and its artists.
Under his leadership, the museum hosted some of the country’s most prestigious modern art exhibitions, attracting more than one million visitors from Slovakia and abroad. Thanks to Meulensteen’s international contacts, Danubiana was able to present works by world-renowned artists such as Sam Francis, Karel Appel and Magdalena Abakanowicz. The museum described Meulensteen as a kind and generous figure whose legacy permanently shaped Slovakia’s modern art scene.
Source: TASR
