Canaletto’s Riva degli Schiavoni: Looking East.
Budapest is enjoying another internationally recognised art exhibition. The Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) is showing “From Caravaggio to Canaletto. Masterpieces of the Italian baroque and rococo”. The Budapest Times spoke to László Baán, the director of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hungarian National Gallery, about the new exhibition and the proposed museum project called “Liget Budapest” in City Park (Városliget), in which he is playing a leading and driving role.
Why did you choose Caravaggio and the Italian baroque?
The Museum of Fine Arts has a huge and important collection of paintings from the old Italian masters, ranging from different historical periods from Renaissance through baroque to rococo. For this reason we decided already eight years ago that we would present these four hundred years of Italian art to the Hungarian and international public in two exhibitions that will follow each other, showcasing among others many of the works in our own collection. The first part of this big double exhibition was open from the beginning of 2010, the one titled “From Botticelli to Tiziano”, and it was a huge success. It attracted in total not less than 230,000 visitors from within the country and abroad.
What is special about the present exhibition?
“From Caravaggio to Canaletto” is a highly important exhibition not only in the Hungarian but also in global context: there has been no such complete and wide-ranging exhibition about the Italian baroque paintings in the whole world since the 1990s. Additionally, most of the paintings in the exhibition, namely nine pieces, come from the genius of the baroque art, Caravaggio. This means that of all the museums in the world the most Caravaggio paintings can be found together at the Museum of Fine Arts at the moment. Besides Caravaggio, you can see excellent works from more than 100 Italian masters of the baroque and rococo. There are in total 140 paintings on display, by the most important masters and schools of Italian baroque painting.
Most of the paintings are borrowed from foreign museums and collectors. How long did it take to put them together?
In total 34 paintings come from the Museum of Fine Arts’ own collection, the rest, more than 100, do come from abroad. Talking about numbers, we got works from 67 open and private collections, among others from famous museums such as the National Gallery in London, the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, the Uffizi in Florence, the Galleria Borghese in Rome and the Vienna Museum of History of Arts, just to name a few. In the history of Hungarian museums, there has never been so many borrowed pictures in one single exhibition. We have been working for four years to be able to organise this exhibition.
What is the total value of the works exhibited?
The insured value of the showcased pieces reaches EUR 500 million. The real market value is much higher.
What kind of exhibitions can we expect to see in the Museum of Fine Arts in the coming years?
There will be a big exhibition from the graphical works (drawings, posters and prints) of Toulouse-Lautrec on the occasion of his 150th birthday. Two hundred of his works will be displayed. In spring 2014 we will open an exhibition titled “Rembrandt and the golden century of Dutch painting”. This exhibition will be like the present “From Caravaggio to Canaletto” show, as it will be composed partly from our own collection as well. Yet again, there will be many borrowed pieces displayed from foreign countries as well.
Let’s change the topic and speak about “Liget Budapest”, the project covering building a large museum quarter in City Park. It will bring Budapest into the centre of the world’s attention. You are the inventor and the coordinator. How far are you with the plans?
As it looks today, Parliament is going to pass a law soon that will create the necessary legal background so that we are able to build five new museum buildings in the park. We expect to receive plans from the most famous architects and architecture companies of the world in the international tender. This should happen at the beginning of 2014 and the winner of the tender should be communicated around the middle of 2014. According to our plans, construction should start in the second half of 2015 and end in 2018.
How much is the project going to cost in total?
We are planning about HUF 75 billion.
Which museums will be part of the new museum quarter?
In addition to the Museum of Fine Arts and its neighbour the Hall of Arts (Műcsarnok) (both on Heroes Square), the National Gallery (situated at present in Buda Castle) and the Ludwig Museum (currently in the Palace of Arts) will be also moved to the museum quarter. Moreover, there are plans to build an Ethnological Museum, a “House of Music” and a Museum of Architecture in the area. The Museum of Photography currently housed in Kecskemét will also be relocated here. I would like to emphasise that the exhibitions and shows in all these institutions will use all the modern tools of the information and communication technology of the 21st century.
László Baán
That sounds very promising!
Since it’s a fact that Budapest does not have attractions like the Sistine Chapel and no paintings like “The Kiss” from Gustav Klimt, it is our goal to call the attention of the world to our museum quarter through establishing a unique urban family leisure park in the Hungarian capital. The “Liget Budapest” project will be one of a kind in the whole of Europe regarding its size and constellation. Just think about it, Budapest Zoo alone has about one million visitors a year, the Szécheny Spa has also around one million guests, and they are both in City Park. In addition, the recently renewed ice-skating tracks and the permanent circus are located here. The circus will be adding one further building, where modern circus shows will be presented with many acrobatic elements.
What happens to the Petőfi Hall (“Pecsa”)?
It will be demolished. There will be a new big science and adventure centre for children built in its place.
What happens to the nearly 100 hectares of green area in City Park?
It will be completely renovated. Moreover the total green surface will be even bigger than in the current City Park. There will be several new gastronomic venues from street food to fine dining. In summary, “Liget Budapest” is promising to become an attraction point and adventure centre for both young and old.
