At the Caffe Teater, we pay special attention to interior design. We want to re-establish the link between the historic theatre and the bar/restaurant, which has unfortunately been severed in many past renovations. That is why we decided on two art reproductions – the enlarged painting of the artist Josef Maria Auchentaller (1865–1949), who in 1911 often visited the restaurant, called the Ristorante Teatro at the time, and probably visited it in later years as well. With his paintings we preserve the atmosphere of Art Nouveau, the artistic period when the Tartini Theatre was built. Josef Maria Auchentaller was an established Viennese artist, exhibiting alongside Klimt, Schiele and other representatives of the Viennese Art Nouveau. He was a painter, jewellery designer, interior designer and the editor of the magazine Ver Sacrum. He also created the first tourist poster. He was the owner of a hotel in Grado, where he also passed away.

We were also inspired by the ceiling frescoes by the painter Napoleone Cozzio (1867-1916) at the Tartini Theatre. The photographs with details of them take our visitors back in time for some hundred years ago with their decorative depictions of allegorical characters representing the muses of poetry, literature, theatre, science and art.

Piran is a town of art and artists, so we invited established local artists to participate in the interior design.

Tanja Prušnik, an Austrian Slovene, graduated in architecture in 1999 from the Technical University of Vienna, where she lives and works. She often visits Piran. As the first Slovenian woman and the first woman ever, she became the president of the Association of Artists of Austria in 2019. She is a subtle artist who materializes her experiences of the landscape, architectural heritage and events in society in original objects. She materialized

Fulvia Zudič, painter, illustrator, ceramicist and organizer of cultural events at the Italian Community Giuseppe Tartini Piran, is a graduate of the Venetian Academy. As a painter she finds endless challenges in the landscape of her native environment, in the architecture of Istrian towns and villages, and especially in their specific details, which – regardless of the chosen genre – are realized in her strongly stylized expression.

More than two decades ago, Dubrovka Šorel, a well-known Piran potter, devoted herself entirely to research and creation in this art form. By kneading the ancient substance of the earth – clay, she creates motifs from her native town and the broader environment, as well as their heritage, to which she adds the colour element in the further process of burning. Her depictions are always recognizable, such as the view of Piran, exhibited in the Caffe Teater.

Vasko Vidmar is a multifaceted artist of the younger generation from Piran, who graduated from the Cultural Heritage of the Mediterranean and is active as an organizer of exhibitions, concerts, festivals and workshops. He also collaborates with the ethnological music group Istranbul. As an artist, he creates illustrations, comics, graffiti and computer graphics in such a way that the motifs that predominate in the Istrian heritage, especially its details, are realized in his definable drawing and painting style.

If you are interested in learning more about art in our Caffe, you can order a guiding tour that includes also a tour of other sights of Piran. For more information: maona@maona.si (minimum number of participants for the guided tour: 5).