Boros István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 5. (Budapest 1954)
Boros, I.: The new exhibitions of the Hungarian National Museum - Museum of Natural History
the windows, were finished by hemicolumnal pillars. The effect was strikingeven to us. We succeeded to comply with the rooms, and to ensure the unity of total impression also in this regard, to such an extent that, as the pictures bear witness, even the most exquisite architectural and exhibition-technical demands have been satisfied. The external parts of the cases were finished by a light brown varnish ; their internal, sub-glass surfaces are, on the other hand, white, pleasantly effective beside the similarly light inner walls. Serving the same purposes — to harmonize architectural form and furnishing, — we have connected the pillars and the walls of the huge gallery-room with the big, arched boards,, constituting the main portion of the standing cases in this room. The height of the two curved halls, that is, the 2 meters high plain wall space still above the cases, would also have acted disturbingly. To remove its bleakness and to further enhance the richness and atmosphere of the whole exhibition, we applied a colorful al secco wall painting, in the whole length of the wall surface, conforming with the themes of the cases. The pictures illustrate, in soft, subdued tones, the several stages of agrotechnical and industrial progress,, according to the course of social evolution, thereby also connecting in a certain way the cases beneath. Nor was it enough to adhere to pragmatical points of view only inthe solution of lighting problems; we adapted ourselves to the style of the rooms. We have installed, in the big gallery-room, a huge circular chandelier of 3 meters diameter, and three other ones in both of the side halls ; they seem to be recurrences of the baroque plaster cornices of the rooms. Their inner iron frames are covered by a plaster garland of acanthus leaves and oeils-de-boeuf, their bottom closed by mat glass sheets hiding the bulbs. They give a pleasantly diffused light,, securing undisturbed contemplation, increased by the glass walls of the cases, even in late evening hours. We are far from suggesting, of course, that the Botanical Exhibition discussed above, solved, every problem concerning the staging of all displays of this sort, and that they cannot even be imagined with other themes and means. We do not show the whole vegetable kingdom, and we do not touch on very many interesting manifestation of plant life. This, however, was not our aim,, and it is scarcely credible that an exhibition comprising the whole material in a museum could anywhere be installed. The partial displays of our botanical exhibition, finished and opened up to this date, entitle us, however, that, based on the experiences drawn from the statements of the most diversely educated visitors, we may safely regard our experiments as right and succesful. Our exhibition, even if it confines itself to the illustration of partial problems, is spectacular, attractive and instructive ; it is a display which, performed by our methods of illustration of the most essential and primarily- important informations for the masses, marshalls nature and its laws, and the whole vegetable kingdom comprehensively, in size, harmony, and beauty, for the edification of the visitors. Our Travelling Exhibitions As I have already mentioned, we made and started on their way, three travelling exhibitions in 1953. It was our aim in their construction to come into contact more intensively with our implements with the cultural work in the country, and to help the spreading of primarily such informations as answer rather practical problems, outside of the range of interest of urban populace ; which serve, therefore, not only public instruction but the interests of everyday life, too.
