Working preface to a book.

I wish I was never born here. The existence comes as a punishment even if it is a successful one.

If I lived in any other country with post-WWII art collecting tradition, I would not have been afraid of success and devoting my living to art. I would have had a privileged social status and state sponsored retirement for working on salvation and preservation of the national cultural heritage. Instead, in Serbia - where no good deed goes unpunished - I feel that my collection hits the nerve with human jealousy, animosity, distrust and disbelief on all levels, so I publish this book in English language to remain on the safe side and be understood worldwide as the Collection’s connections are based far and wide across the globe plus the English language is a homage to the country where I had begun to collect back in 1995 and I have been collecting, ‘picking’ and selecting fine art ever since. Yes, I am the fine art collector and also the rare books and antiques hunter not looking for any laurels but I do feel that locally I am regarded as a complete idiot and public enemy by the 99.99% of Serbian population because my collection has become important and valuable. Vujasinovic Art Collection by far outweighs many public collections and it is something extremely hard to digest on the part of the Serbian state. By having something that has got some value I made some painful enemies in my life. Their only goal is to bring us down overnight and we are currently putting up a good fight to prevent that. Instead of praise all I get are distrustful looks, indifference, ignorance, stonewalling. I was even attacked by one state official with a metal baton - who knew who I was - and it was the situation where I was fighting for my dear life, later being the only one charged by the state for clear self-defense that was luckily caught on surveillance cameras. My experience is that people here develop a grudge assuming that I am some sort of thief because they simple do not want to believe that it is possible for one individual to amass what I did. Thus I feel maliciously and unscrupulously slandered, helpless, unprotected and degraded at all times. Public rumors become sores, they are backstabbing and tarring reputation while only those closely associated with you know your benefactions and importance. It cannot be easily understood by those who do not live around here. In other words, Vujasinovic Art Collection does not steal and it owns only authentic and if possible, the best and the most interesting art there is with full chain of provenance where available and historical records in literature where applicable. We are perpetually discerning. In Serbian language, we possess only “hitchine” *in Cyrillic, so this will be the only Serbian word used in this picture book. As an independent and mega successful, you easily become the public target, meanwhile, all those publicly appreciated local collections are maintained by owners that have some political influence, power and money. Even though in reality they are too small fish to fry, their importance is given epic proportions. I personally despise them back all except those owned by several friends. Prior to my stay in the USA I had been thinking that art was something that only idiots can admire. The opium for the retarded ones. I could not have imagined that one private individual could own let alone amass the collection of fine art, rare books, historical documents, antiques. I thought that real humans collect stamps and worthless coins only. When I spoke to the Mr. P.M. , the famous Pennsylvania tax collector, who was my second father in the USA, I bragged to him about my country Yugoslavia where we had two major banks each offering 120% monthly interest rates. He laughed it off. If it was so good, why did you come to America? I did not know I was full of it idolizing the criminal doings of my ex-country who was becoming capitalist but with the communist mindset. This mindset recognizes human classes and limitations – there are those that are allowed to become something, achieve something, but others cannot. You have to look and behave in a special way to be recognized. Or you have to be approved by the community or those in charge of public opinion. After all, things that people can dream of could happen in America only. I am the fact. Let’s hope there will raise another Serbia, the one that was pre-WWII. A good natured one that supports independent art collecting while the evil one that spoils everything with jealousy, distrust and hatred will soon become history and forgotten.

All that said, it was much easier collecting art in the United States, however, there were some other insoluble problems with irreversible consequences that I had encountered there. Therefore, I have left my entire fine art collection from the “American” period to my ‘American’ ex-family to care. Great art collection is made by great refraining from all your other life luxuries. Collecting art is matter of choice. Year after year, you do not go to summertime vacations like everybody else, family becomes second, you spend all of your savings and you do not afford yourself Porsche. Next to fine art you also collect negativity from your collecting peers with more money and lesser mental capacities as well as judgements from all these people that went to sea resorts having had sex whenever they wanted, etc; and so they become your lifelong mortal enemies envying you over your art collection. In a way you made yourself a loser cos all of your joy has been sucked out of it in the end.

we therefore present hereby a small selection of artworks from our collection of art, books and antiques letting them speak for themselves for a moment…a fleeting one at that.

Milos Vujasinovic, Curator

Vujasinovic Art Collection

Belgrade, Serbia

2019