He emigrated 1942 to Italy, in 1943 to Switzerland and in 1946 to the United States. In 1952 he donated his Croatian estates to the people of Croatia, including more than 400 sculptures, drawings, design, furniture and architecture. 

After Croatia's independence in 1995, the villa was extensively renovated and opened in 1998.

Since 1991, the gallery has been an integral part of the Ivan Mestrovic Foundation with its headquarters in Zagreb, together with the three other donated properties; the Mestrovic Atelier in Zagreb, the nearby Kaštelet-Crikvine complex, and The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, the last resting place of Ivan Meštrović and his closest family members, mother Marta, father Mate, brothers Marko and Petar, son Tvrtko and wife Olga. 

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