Born in Trst/Trieste, Avgust Černigoj (1898-1985) was the key figure of the Slovene avant-garde artistic scene. He graduated in Bologna, and then went to study at Munich Academy. Soon he discovered the new experimental art school Bauhaus. The short but intensive Weimar period had a profound influence on Černigoj's artistic development and gave an indelible and recognisable character to his personality, as well as to most of his works. He became enthusiastic about Abstraction, represented in those times by Kandinsky and Klee at the Bauhaus, and above all about Constructivism. Černigoj remained more or less faithful to Constructivist principles for his entire life. He introduced an important novelty: collage, through which he created not only new artistic values but also changed the way of understanding artistic work. During his life he participated in numerous exhibitions, both at home and abroad. Although bitterly rejected at the beginning and not widely understood, Černigoj later won some awards for his work, among them the Prešeren Award for lifetime achievement. The last five years of his life were spent in Lipica, where nowadays a collection comprising around 1,400 of his works is situated. The permanent exhibition installation of around 400 works was set up by Novi kolektivizem (NK). The gallery attracts many experts as well as tourists and local visitors.