The 20^th Century Fine Art Collection was established after the Croatian History Museum was founded in 1991 through the integration of the History Museum of Croatia with the Museum of the Revolution of the Peoples of Croatia. The Collection was formed through the distribution of the Museum’s holdings. The basis of the Collection is the fine art collection of the former Museum of the Revolution of the Peoples of Croatia with more than 4600 works by some sixty Croatian artists of all styles and generations created during the antifascist struggle in Croatia during World War II. For the most part of these are drawings, and to a lesser extent graphics, oils on canvas, posters and sculptures. The Collection includes works by major figures from Croatian art: A. Augustincic, M. Detoni, O. Herman, A. Maurovic, F. Mraz, E. Murtic, V. Parac, O. Postruznik, Z. Prica, V. Radaus, N. Reiser, V. Svecnjak, Lj. Sestic, P. Simaga, D. Tiljak, A. Zupa and many others.

Also included in the Collection are some works of art from the War Museum and archives from the period of the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945).

With the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the birth of the independent Republic of Croatia, a significant number of posters from political life and posters created during the Patriotic War were collected, so that the total holdings of the 20^th Century Fine Art Collection rose to about 5500 works.

Drawings, the most numerous part of the Collection, have been shown many times at group, thematic and monograph exhibitions. On the other hand, the paintings (oils on canvas) were rarely shown, and some of them have never been exhibited in public. This broadly-based exhibition has enabled the presentation of this segment of the 20^th Century Fine Art Collection.