Nagy Ildikó szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 1992-1996 (MNG Budapest, 1998)

IN MEMORIAM - The memory of dr. Éva Bodnár (Bakó, Zsuzsanna)

IN MEMÓRIÁM The memory of DR. ÉVA BODNÁR (October 12, 1922 - February 25, 994) One of the founders of the Hungarian National Gallery, the retired curator of the 19th—20th century collection, art historian Eva Bodnár died on 25 February 1994, at the age of 72. After her university studies, she worked on the National Commission for Historic Monuments from 1949, and in the National Centre of Museums and Monuments from 1950. She was involved in registration, surveying the private and church collections in Budapest and the countryside, as well as the stocks of rural museums. From 1953, she worked on the museum staff of the Modern Gallery in the Museum of Fine Arts. When in 1957 the National Gallery was established, she was transferred to the New Hungarian Gallery, of which she was deputy head from 1964 and head from 1970. From 1983 to her retirement in 1985, she was director of the 19th and 20th century collection. As a museum curator, she worked with extreme conscientiousness, with love of the art works and with great expertise. She was interested in collection expansion, careful registration, presentation and scientific elaboration alike. Through her kindliness and subtle bargaining skills, she acquired several invaluable art treasures for the collection. Her systematic precision is to thank for the thematic catalogue and the archival photo collection added to the existing system of registration. She also largely contributed to the working out of a detailed listing, which may be the basis for a subsequent special catalogue. To let the public get acquainted with the works, she curated several exhibitions at home and abroad from works of 19th—20th century Hungarian painters. Besides preparing and organizing the showings, she also took pains to make documenting catalogues. Her knowledge of languages enabled her to acquaint masses of people abroad with the Hungarian works in an enjoyable and professionally high-level style. Her major exhibitions at home included: Rippl-Rónai commemorative exhibition 1961, 1968 Kaposvár, National Gallery; Tihany, commemorative Tornyai exhibition, 1961. HNG; Hódmezővásárhely Csontváry commemorative exhibition 1963, Museum of Fine Art, Székesfehérvár. She organized the permanent exhibitions of the Hungarian National Gallery in its former building and in the Palace of Buda in 1958 and 1975; the art of the Szolnok colony, HNG 1975; Hungarian painters in Italy, HNG 1967. She collaborated with several rural museums in setting up their permanent exhibitions, such as the Hungarian section of the Egry Gallery, the Balaton Gallery in Keszthely, the 20th c. painting of the Móra Ferenc Museum in Szeged. Her major exhibitions abroad were: Collected works of László Mednyánszky in Bucharest 1960; 19th-20th c. Hungarian Art, Leningrad. Ermitage 1962; Csontváry exhibition, Brussels 1962; Belgrade 1963; Mihály Munkácsy

's art, Dresden 1967, Lincz 1969; the painting of Nagybánya, Prague 1974; 19th—20th c. Hungarian painting, Luzern, 1975; the art of the Szolnok colony, Vienna 1975, Graz 1976. The exhibitions were always accompanied by press briefings, guided tours and often lectures. She also delivered several lectures in rural towns and abroad upon the invitation of museums, and at conferences, on topics of Hungarian painting. Despite all these ramifying and attention-absorbing activities, she was untiring in pursuing scientific research work. She published many articles and studies in Hungarian periodicals on topics of 19th—20th c. Hungarian painting, and she authored several books that filled gaps in scientific elaboration. She wrote her doctoral dissertation about János Tornyai, a painter ignored completely by art history so far. Her major books are: János Tornyai 1956, János Halápy 1978, Károly Marko sr. 1980, István Boldizsár 1981, 1985, Géza Mészöly 1985, Tornyai rediscovered (Az újra felfedezett Tornyai) 1986, Sword and brush. Historical paintings in the Hungarian National Gallery (Kard és ecset. Történelmi képek a Magyar Nemzeti Galériában) 1987. She continued to work in retirement, too, as her books reveal. She also participated in the Committee of Attributing Art Objects as an external expert, and surmounting her growing illness, she kept writing major articles and studies, including one for the catalogue of the Károly Marko exhibition of 1991. Besides her museum engagements and scientific work, she also took an active social role. In 1972-80 she was the Gallery's trade union secretary, a function which required much organizing work that she could perform well with her social sensibility and humanity. With her death, the profession and the cause of Hungarian museums lost a great personage. Zsuzsanna Bakó