The Gallery was founded by Marino Cettina in 1986 and was originally called “DANTE”. Its name was changed into “MARINO CETTINA” in 1998 after the premature death of its owner and promoter. It is one of the first private galleries In Eastern Europe and the only one in former Yugoslavia and now in Croatia to initiate an international discourse.
From the very start the Gallery has shown international artists: Robert Mapplethorpe, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauchenberg, Richard Serra and in recent years Andres Serrano, Robert Gober, Zoe Leonard, Jack Pierson, Vadim Fishkin, Alexander Brener, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood,Tracey Emin , Gillian Wearing, Masaki Hirano, Nedko Solakov, Barbara Holub, Jeanne Finley, Hussein Alptekin...
Its founder, Marino Cettina promoted successfully Croatian and Slovene contemporary artists at home and abroad: Mladen Stilinović, Goran Petercol, Ivana Keser, Goran Trbuljak, Boris Cvjetanović, Slaven Tolj, Sandro Đukić, Marina Grčinić & Aina Šmid, the collaborative group IRWIN.