Bányai Balázs - Kovács Eleonóra (szer.): A"Zichy-expedíció"- Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. A. sorozat 48. (Székesfehérvár, 2013)

The "Zichy Expedition"

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THE “ZICHY EXPEDITION

charge.201 In his will he donated the collection and the palace to the city under the condition that the treasures must be kept together.202

The complications during its opening foreshadowed the museum’s sad future. Zichy, on more than one occasion, was taken to court with the allegation of not paying out salaries. For instance, by Sándor Nyári, the author of the museum's catalogue203 and by the architect, Frigyes Kovács from whom the Count ordered plans for one of his other houses.204 After their father’s death in 1906 Zichy’s heirs disputed the donation of the palace to the city at court and won the case. Thus the capital had to find a new building for the collection. The paintings were temporarily housed and later exhibited in a suburban building and were later transferred to the Capital’s Gallery. Meanwhile other treasures of the collection were kept in different places and were distributed according to the nature of its elements.205 That is why today the former material of the Zichy Museum can be found in several different institutions, for example the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Ethnographic Museum, Kiscelli Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts.

The Count, who made such great sacrifices for his homeland was active even in his last years. His activities as a politician, lecturer, director, president and leadership member at different organizations could only be halted by his death at the age of 69. He rests in the cemetery in Kerepesi street in Budapest.

Zoltán Veres:

Cross muster by Erzsébet Kozma for Jenő Zichy's tombstone, 1908 Károly Kincses's collection