Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 92-93.(Budapest, 2000)

VERŐ, MÁRIA: Gothic Sculptures

GOTHIC SCULPTURES The principles of enlarging the Collection were summarized by Elek Petrovics, in 1916:/« reorganizing the collection of sculptures we have set two basic criteria for the acquisition of individual pieces: The principal criterion was the purely artistic consideration, according to which the acquisition of a piece was truly desirable only when it was a first class artistic creation, regardless of its period or age and of its historic or scientific significance; a subordinate criterion pertains to art history, and thus we did select those pieces from among the outstanding pieces offered to us, which were suitable to function as the representatives of a certain period or geographic area and which thus also served to demonstrate the development of the art form and provide instruction as to the history of sculpture.... in complementing the existing collection, these pieces gradually produced a consistent sequence and generally represented the art of a period or of a geographic area which was previously not represented in the collection of the Museum. In order to execute his ambitious program of acquisitions, Elek Petrovics, Director General of the Museum between 1914 and 1935, selected Simon Melier, who also served as Curator of the sculpture collection from 1916 on, as his principal associate. The purchases initiated by them laid the groundwork for the permanent exhibition of sculptures, which opened in 1921, after years of war and disorder, under the artistic direction of Mr. Meiler. Their purchases from abroad enriched the Museum's collection with such significant late-medieval creations as the Beautiful Madonna, in stone (Frankfurt, 1916), the Calvary carvings from Grosskönigsdorf, near Cologne (Munich, 1916) (fig. 77) and a small Calvary group (Munich. 1917). The inventory of the sculpture collection was later increased primarily from three private collections, both by purchase and by donations. The principal one of these was the collection of Bernát Back (1871-1953). This mill owner, who had inherited a patent of nobility from his father, lived first in Győr and later in Szeged. He represents a remarkably interesting and appealing figure among the Hungarian collectors and supporters of art. He collected both the works of old masters and sculptures. With a peculiarly reliable judgement - and also with careful attention to the advice of the best experts, including Wilhelm von Bode, Julius Böhler and later Theodor Müller - he made his selections from among the creations of Southern Germany, Austria and the South Tyrol. He had wanted to transform his private collection into a public museum in Szeged, even prior to World War I. When Ferenc Móra organized the Szeged Circle of the Patrons of Art in 1917, the first exhibition of the Circle consisted of the paintings and sculptures of Bernát Back's. Back's plans were frustrated by the concluding events