THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN NIKOLA TESLA AND ORVILLE WRIGHT KEPT IN THE SCIENTIST’S LEGACY IN THE MUSEUM OF NIKOLA TESLA

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Nikola Tesla and the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, have worked and created in the United
States of America in the period comprising the last two decades of the 19th and the first half of the
20th century. All three of them were visionaries and creators of the modern technical age. In the
Tesla’s legacy, apart from his personal and technical items, press clippings, monographic and serial
publications, there are also about 156,000 sheets of archival material which cover his entire life and
work, both chronologically and thematically. Among these testimonies there are four original documents (a concept of a condolence letter, a copy of the sent condolence letter, a brief gratitude note
and a formal invitation) that were exchanged between Nikola Tesla and probably Orville Wright,
between 1912 and 1920. The oldest preserved document of their correspondence is the concept of
Tesla’s condolence letter to Orville Wright on the occasion of the death of his older brother. Two
approved patents for the Wright brothers’ aircraft model have been preserved as well, which testifies
of the scientist’s interest in their work and aviation research in general. Researching the correspondence between Nikola Tesla and Orville Wright, as well as the other documents from the scientist’s
legacy preserved in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, we have tried to highlight the details of
his acquaintance with the Wright brothers, that is, a small fragment of his life and work which has
remained almost unknown until today. Results of the research, presented in the form of a scientific
research paper, contribute to a better understanding of the aviation history and reveal new details
from the life stories of our renowned scientist and the two famous aviation pioneers. The publication
of exclusive documents from Tesla’s legacy is a contribution to the wider scientific community and a
new reference point for all the researchers who are to cover similar topics in the future.

LIFE OF THE PAINTING AFTER DEATH OF THE ARTIST

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Following the path of the painting after the departure of Petar Lubarda, one of our most prominent
art figures, we are faced with the question to what extent we have fulfilled our task to protect the
cultural property that was left–donated–to us. Processing the data from the most extensive register
in the documentation of the Faculty of Fine Arts, with a multitude of actual and sensationalist titles
that follow the life of his paintings, we have learnt about the formation of a rich collection donated
by the artist’s wife, Vera Lubarda, to the City of Belgrade, about the opening of the Atelier of Petar
Lubarda and, shortly afterwards, its closing and falling into oblivion. However, in the light of one
century from the birth of our esteemed artist, a need arose for retrospective exhibitions, which have,
along with marking the jubilee and forming the Legacy of Petar Lubarda, to some extent corrected
the decades of neglect by the expert public and the responsible cultural institutions. With an objective approach to the preserved data recorded by numerous art historians, critics and journalists,
which are kept in the Petar Lubarda files, the paper presents the most current events about the life of
his paintings in the period from the artist’s death to the present day.

MUSEALISATION OF THE COLLECTION OF BLACK AND WHITE NEGATIVES FROM THE LEGACY OF ALEKSANDAR SIMIĆ

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The paper follows the musealisation of the collection of black and white negatives from the Legacy
of Aleksandar Simić, photographer of the Yugoslav Army in the homeland, i.e. its integration into
the fund of the Museum of Yugoslavia, which has not yet collected materials of Ravna Gora provenance. Also, considerations were raised regarding the legal status of donated material in cultural
institutions so that, in correlation with those considerations, questions related to the museological
treatment of objects that arrived to the Museum would be answered. By that, we primarily mean
the process of museal selection, i.e. valorisation of donated photographic material, its digital and
documentary processing, and finally, consideration of the communication potential of the received
collection in relation to the Museum’s fund, which can raise numerous challenges for the researchers
due to its heterogeneity and nature

LEGACIES TO THE COLLECTION OF COINS AND MEDALS OF THE BELGRADE CITY MUSEUM

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Two of the twenty-eight legacies to the Belgrade City Museum are found in the “Collection of Money and Medals”: the bequests of Đorđe Novaković and Svetozar St. Dušanić. These collections were
donated to the Museum in the 1970s. After a brief review of the concept and the legal status of
legacies in view of the Serbian cultural milieu and policies, the paper demonstrates a study of two
bequests – the paper banknotes and the Roman coins from the “Collection for Money and Medals”.
In addition to the short history of each legacy, the manner in which they were formed, including
their contents, an attempt was made to search available documentation in the museum archives to
demonstrate how the collections were donated to the Museum and “established” as legacies. The
work also considers to what extent and with what success the Museum activities have been carried
out in practice, namely: preservation, conservation, restoration and documentation filing, as well as
communication activities which include exhibitions and education.

CONSTRUCTING OF THE NARCISSISTIC ARTISTIC CHARACTER IN THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SALVADOR DALI

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By applying the methodology of transdisciplinary studies, this work examines the phenomenon
of Narcissism and narcissistic artistic character in the autobiography of Salvador Dali “I am the
genius” (The Secret World of Salvador Dali), in the paining “The Metamorphosis of Narcissus”, and
in Dali’s original poetry through the prisms of mythology, psychoanalysis and psychosexuality by
constructing of the narcissistic character (artistic “Persona”) as a model for identity strategies in
contemporary art practices. The text is analysing some of Dali’s unique personality characteristics
and creative and personal expression, with a special insight into his childhood and the term of
narcissistic personality structure according to Sigmund Freud, also analysing the key-role of Gala
Dali. The text includes some postulates of the art movement of Surrealism that Dali applied in his
work, from the “Surrealism Manifesto” and the Surrealism practices. In a case study, the text analyses the painting “Metamorphosis of Narcissus”, its content, symbolism, style and visual elements. A
possible influence of Sigmund Freud is described, and Dali’s original method of “Critical Paranoia”
is elaborated. The closing sections are describing the fascinating dimensions of the personality cult
that Dali and his narcissistic character reached in the last years of his life. A special focus is made
on the musealisation of Dali – his numerous museums and bequests, memorials and collections,
the founding of which has contributed to the building of a permanent monument to the artist and
finally to the establishment of his status of a mythical personality – the “Dali” brand.