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

The Museum of Fine Arts in 1999

been newly restored or recently acquired by the Museum. The works are arranged topographically, so that works grouped around the activity of a significant artist, a sculptural centre, or a stylistic movement can be studied together. The exhibition, intended to last for several years, is set up in the Doric Pyramid, and is a continuation of an exhibition of Baroque sculpture that was displayed here a few years ago. The installation was carried out by Pál Héjjas. Giorgio Vasari: The Wedding at Cana November - December, Vestibule Vasari's work, originating from the Esterházy collection, is a small-size version of the artist's painting originally executed for the refectory of the Benedictine monastery in Perugia and now in the Chapel of the Sacrament in the church of San Pietro (fig. 79). The picture disappeared in 1944-45, during the events of World War II, from the building of the Ministry of Finance. In 1963 it was purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal. After repeated attempts on the part of the Museum and state authorities to recover the painting, Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada offered during the visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister to Canada in the autumn of 1999 to redeem the painting from its owners and restitute it to Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has brought the work back to Hungary on 3 November and handed it over to Miklós Mojzer, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts. Subsequently, the painting was exhibited free of charge until the end of the year. Paintings from a Private Collection: Works by Mira, Tapies, Chiliida, Alechinsky, and Their Contemporaries from the Marghescu Collection 25 November, 1999 - 30 January, 2000 Exhibition by Judit Geskó The exhibition of these works from a German private collection was the opening exhibition of the newly renovated exhibition room of the Department of Prints and Drawings. The collector, Mrs. Maria Hunor Marghescu grouped the material of the exhibition around the drawings and prints of four world-famous artists: Joan Miró, Antoní Tapies, Eduardo Chiliida, and Pierre Alechinsky (fig. 85). The owner of the collection has previously offered several works of art to the Museum: the Collection of Prints and Drawings has been enriched this way by two works of Joan Miró and an important series of woodcuts by Uecker. The intention of the Museum is to further enrich the modern section of the collection of Prints and Drawings by purchases from the Marghescu collection, with the financial help of sponsors and through the Museum's own resources.