Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 102-103. (Budapest, 2005)
ANNUAL REPORT 2005 - A 2005. ÉV - EERENC TÓTH: Art at the Turn of the Century: New Permanent Exhibition of the Department of Art after 1800
ART AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY: THE NEW PERMANENT EXHIBITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ART AFTER 1800 Curator: Ferenc Tóth In the autumn of 2005, in the course of the reorganisation of the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Collection of Art after 1800 moved to a new exhibition space. In a continuation of the Old Masters' Gallery on the first floor, now three great halls and seven cabinets host those 19th century paintings that follow the traditional line of art history. The Art at the Turn of the Century exhibition, w r hich represents the new artistic trends of the end of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century, found its place in the Majovszky Halls on the lower level (fig. 69). These new trends, altering the whole artistic landscape of Europe, and the reform movements that emerged contemporaneously on various parts of the continent arrived from two directions, to meet at this period in time. One of their points of departure was French Post-Impressionism, while in other parts of Europe, the Symbolist - Art Nouveau movements, which turned against institutionalised art, constituted the beginnings of Modernism. The period these artworks represent coincides with the foundation of the Museum of Fine Arts a hundred years ago, a time when Hungarian cultural policy regarded as its task the establishment of a modern art collection, and hence the Museum was provided with an ample selection of artworks. The exhibition, instead of national characteristics, focuses on similar artistic concepts, formulated on different parts of the continent. The selection is based on a thematic unity, within the framework of which the French masters of the era, such as Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis and Auguste Rodin are installed side by side with representatives of other nations: Arnold Böcklin, Franz von Stuck, Giovanni Segantini, Fernand Khnopff and Axeli Gallén-Kallela. The new exhibition space has allowed for the presentation of hitherto rarely seen pictures, kept in the stores of the museum. In this way, such works of art found their way to the public, as those of the Italian artist Medardo Rosso, the Finnish Pekka Halonen and Yryö
