Fittings and fixtures, a statue with drawers, art collecting and patronage
MúzeumCafé 16.
German entrepreneur Reinhold Würth has managed the family company since 1954. Currently the concern is involved in fixing and assembly materials, and operates in 86 countries. Mr Würth is a collector and patron of art. Today the Würth collection comprises 12,000 items and a special museum has been created for them. In 2009 the Würth Group’s company in Hungary was nominated for a Summa Artium award. We are entering a large area in the Hungarian headquarters of the company. Where there are no windows, the walls are full of paintings. Immediately a life-size, rather strange sculpture strikes the eye – Abel by Antal Sprok is an artwork created from wood, or rather sculpture-furniture. Abel has little drawers in his belly. There are also pictures on every free surface of the circular gallery leading from and to the reception area, as there are in the room of Ágnes Vörös, head of marketing. The Würth collection in Hungary consists of 134 works of art, including paintings by János Bencsik, Pál Gerzson, István Moldován, László Tenk and Károly Vilhelm, as well as the above-mentioned Abel. Naturally the German group’s approach was influential when the Hungarian subsidiary was launched. The example of Reinhold Würth shows how important it is when a company owner is an enthusiastic collector and a committed patron of the arts. These activities play a decisive role in the enterprise he manages. Herr Würth began collecting works of art in the 1960s. Today his compilation includes significant works by artists such as Monet, Picasso, Chagall, Pissarro, Sisley, Liebermann, Munch, Nolde and Vasarely. Besides paintings it also contains a significant amount of sculpture. Reinhold Würth is assisted with the collection by a council of art historians, whose president is the former director of the Pompidou Centre.