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.