The history of the Art Pavilion in Zagreb is in a way also the history of fine arts of the 20th century in Croatia.

That is the oldest exhibition hall on the Slavic south and the only building that has been purpously built for big, representative exhibitions to be held in it.

During its (around) 100-year existence, almost all remarkable exhibitions which exceeded the framework (limits) of Zagreb with their significance were held in there. The exhibitions of many groups, movements and trends have been held here - the foundations of the traditions of painting and sculptural modernity in Croatia have been created here. Between two world wars everything that was artistically most progressive was brought together in the Pavilion.

The whole pleiad of artists who appeared there in that period, constitutes, in fact, Croatian art and cultural history. After the end of World War 2, also, almost all art events reflected in the exhibitions held in the Pavilion, the place where all bigger one-man exhibitions were arranged.

Together with the number of remarkable names from Croatian art history, exceptional names from other countries have appeared here. Our culture has never been closed or exclusive one, on the contrary, it has been naturally opened to the world, and the Art Pavilion in Zagreb was the place where great names from other countries were most seemly entertained. The need for an exhibition hall, where big exhibitions of artists and cultural importance can be held, was felt in Zagreb in the last decade of the last century when art life started to develop more intensely. The original idea and initiative for the construction of the Art Pavilion in Zagreb was given in 1895 by a painter Vlaho Bukovac, the most remarkable person in Zagreb’s artistic and cultural life on the transition of the centuries. In only a few years of his residence in Zagreb, Bukovac roused many initiatives like the building of first ateliers, organization of one-man and group exhibitions and, finally, building and opening of a representative exhibition hall - the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. The possibility of the realization of construction of the Art Pavilion in Zagreb appeared during the preparations for the Millenium exhibitions in Budapest, whose gala opening was planned for 2nd May 1986. Hungary celebrated “the festivity of millenium” - a millenium of its nationally constructive life, so Croatia and Slavonia, which were politically and juridically connected with Hungary, had to contribute actively to the exhibition.

The Museum is situated in the old part of the town, in the representative baroque palace called Vojković-Or�ić-Rauch, which was built at the end of the 18th century. In the course of the history the palace frequently changed its owners and its tenants and mirrored the social and the financial status of the aristocratic families.

On the facade of the palace, there is the coat of arms of the Vojković family. It is a coincidence that it is similar to the coat of arms of the earls Or�ić, who were the second owners of the palace.

After the Or�ić family, the palace was owned by the baronial family Kulmer who were followed by the Rauchs, also barons. The interior of the palace from their time has been preserved. In the big ballroom on the first floor balls, concerts and theatrical performances were held, in which the representatives of the Croatian social elite of the 18th, the 19th, and the 20th centuries took part.

After the Zagreb town had bought the palace from its last private owners in the 1930s, it became the residence of Zagreb mayors. In 1959 the palace was temporarily assigned to The History Museum of Croatia. After it had been merged with The Museum of the Revolution of the Peoples of Croatia in 1991, a new institution was founded - The Croatian History Museum.