One of the artworks acquired by the National Gallery in the first year of its operation is the sculpture Boy with a Bee, purchased in 1920 from its author Lojze Dolinar. Dolinar created the sculpture during his stay in Ljubljana (1912–1917), after completing his studies in Vienna and Munich.

The small intimate sculpture of patinated plaster was included in the 15th Art Exhibition at the Jakopič Pavilion in Ljubljana in 1918, under the title In Fear. It depicts a charming, neo-Baroque figure of a chubby boy who is afraid of being stung by a bee, as he leans back and tries to protect his face with his right arm, on which the bee has just landed.