Nagy Ildikó szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 1980-1988 (MNG Budapest, 1989)

The Circle of Friends of the Hungarian National Gallery: the tenth anniversary (Márta Vájna)

THE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL GALLERY: THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY After some effort, the Circle of Friends of the National Gallery was eventually founded in the autumn of 1978. Unlike traditional associations of patrons of museums, it does not see sponsorship as its major task, in view of the Hungarian conditions. The Circle welcomes anyone with an interest in the museum and in Hungarian art. Membership fees are so small that every one can afford it. The cost is symbolic, showing the close, organized relationship with the museum. Income from membership fees simply covers the expenses of the meetings. After beginning with a membership of 60, the Circle has now had around 400 members for some years. On average 50 people drop out every year and about that many join. Most members are in professional occupations and are over 50 years in age. What unites them, irrespective of their social status, is their interest in and concern for the museum and the arts. Insofar as occupation is concerned, they include collectors, artists, friends and relatives of artists, art critics, architects, doctors, teachers, office workers and laborers. With their interest in art history, many of them can contribute valuable ideas to the problems that arise. They are regulars at openings, concerts and other programmes organized by the Gallery. All Circle members have a card that entitles them to visit the museum at any time, free of charge. Through them the directors and the staff of the museum can maintain a direct and lively contact with the public. The programmes organized by the Circle add to the diversity of the Gallery and its appeal to the public. Most of what the Circle does is connected with public education. Their first programmes were guided tours of exhibitions and lectures on the works on display. Most lecturers are on the Gallery staff, some are specialists at other institutions and a few are foreign experts visiting Hungary. In the first year an attempt was made to use a questionnaire in order to establish the expectations of the Circle; this soon gave way to a spontaneous expression of wishes and proposals. The Circle's programme was gradually formed from ideas proposed by members and others or by the staff of the Gallery. The most frequent items include: 1. An analysis of permanent exhibitions. — Whenever a new permanent exhibition is being prepared or an old one is rearranged in the Gallery, there is the opportunity for the director of the exhibition to inform the Circle on the thinking behind it along with the most recent scholarship; once the exhibition has been viewed, there is an opportunity to discuss how successfully the new concept has been realized. — The Circle organizes series of lectures on certain permanent exhibitions. From these, members gain an insight into the current research at the museum and into other activities (restoration, preservation, collection, etc.) 2. Activities connected with temporary exhibitions. — Members can talk over the exhibition with the art historian in charge or the exhibiting artist during a tour of the exhibition before the official opening or at a non-public hour. — Occasionally the Circle adds to the exhibition by staging a programme of music, poetry, films, personal recollections, etc. 3. Members of the Circle are regularly informed on the current scholarly work and the workings of the Gallery. It has now become the custom for the general director or his deputy to brief members at the beginning of each year on the institution's position, problems, plans. Each department gives an overview of what they are doing. Information is provided on the Documentation Department of registration, criticism, storage, restoration. There they also deal with works not currently on display and with problems of art history and museology (e. g. collecting and presenting contemporary art, the regulations on storing and displaying drawings, the legal aspects of registration, forgeries, new acquisitions, etc./. 4. A central event in the Circle's programme is a series of meetings with artists entitled "Our contemporaries". Some of the works of the invited artists are displayed and he/she is asked to speak about his/her work. Over the past ten years the Circle has welcomed Tibor Vilt, Endre Bálint. Jenő Barcsay, Miklós Borsos, Margit Anna, Tihamér Gyarmathy and several younger artists as guests. Taped records of the meetings are preserved in the Documentation Department of the Gallery. Mention should also be made of visits to some artists' workshops (e.g. Imre Varga, Makrisz Agamemnon). 5. On appropriate anniversaries, the Circle stages evenings in honour of major Hungarian artists. Against the background of an exhibition of selected works of the artist, there is music, poetry reading, lectures of personal reminiscence (e. g. to the memory of Bertalan Székely, Lajos Gulácsy, József Egry, Róbert Berény, Béla Kondor). 6. Under an agreement with the Corvina Publishing House, the Circle organizes book premiers and enables the publishing house to introduce their new art publications every year. In return, the Circle is presented with art books which are raffled for at the last meeting before Christmas. Another agreement permits the Circle to present films on art and to thrash them out with the filmmakers. 7. Circle members visit other museums and show-rooms in the capital. They also have outings around the city to monuments