“The problem is not the idea of a museum quarter”
Árpád Mikó, head of the National Gallery’s Old Hungarian Collection
MúzeumCafé 29.
“My life would have been unimaginable without pictures. Even when I was a child they were important.” Thus says Árpád Mikó, who spent a large part of his youth in the former Old Hungarian Picture Gallery. “I was absolutely fascinated by its rich material. … The Gallery was my first place of employment. I started there when I was a student and got involved in the preparatory work for a Matthias exhibition at Schallaburg Castle.” Over the decades the Gallery’s collection has expanded, numerous exhibitions have been organised and significant changes have occurred in the life of the museum. “I started in the early 1980s at the time when Ödön Gábor Pogány retired. Then Loránd Bereczky became the director in 1982. I liked working with him very much. Every Gallery director has left a mark which can be felt today. The most significant event was when the museum moved to its present place on Castle Hill, since it became possible to display a huge amount of material … Then the issue was raised of restoring the medieval material which was in a very bad condition.” Restorer workshops were established and the work of putting to rights and conserving relics which had had a cruel fate could be started. “It was a great event when the permanent exhibition of late Gothic winged altarpieces opened in the former throne room in 1982. “Old Hungarian arts covers all branches: from jug handles to altars and all sorts of objects in between. It presents the lifestyle of a given period, its culture of objects. Objects and works of art have to be obtained from many places, including other museums. It’s exciting team work.” The Gallery’s current Old Hungarian Collection ranges from the early medieval era to the 18th century.