A museum is about people

Ferenc Csák, Director of the Hungarian National Gallery

MúzeumCafé 15.

“I first studied economics and then political science at the University of Regensburg. However, the Department of Art History was rather near and I was lured to a lecture about Goya. The resulting detour finished with a degree. I studied with internationally renowned professors such as Jörg Traeger, and visited prominent institutions abroad, for example in St. Petersburg, London and Paris, where I could study their operations. As state secretary for international affairs with the Ministry of Education and Culture I have recently managed to personally meet the heads of various national collections, which I can make use of as the director of the Gallery. The Hungarian National Gallery for me is like home. At university I undertook my practical training at the Gallery. “My love of Hungarian art came from my parents and they helped with my studies. My father, an architect, began collecting paintings by 19th century Hungarian masters, Csók, Ferenczy and Lotz, in the 70s. Then contemporary works began appearing at home. Through my parents I met several artists and many let me into their studios so I could observe them while painting. Regarded as a friend, I could follow their work and edit their monographs. In my tender application I wrote that I would like the Hungarian National Gallery to be a receiving gallery of the whole country. Cultural public service for me is the most important measure – in every sense. “The Hungarian National Gallery has the largest and most significant public collection of Hungarian fine arts in the country. Its enormous compilation of art works, as well as the standard and the professional expertise  of its employees, represent a great asset, which it has utilized well – think of its large-scale exhibitions attended by many thousands of visitors.