From the town of art collections to the Great Exhibition Hall flop
The emergence of the museum network and its present position in Pécs
MúzeumCafé 33.
The April-May 2011 issue of MúzeumCafé reviewed the process of how small museums in Szent-endre were established. Here we examine the history and present circumstances of the museum network in another town, Pécs, which considering its condition is better off than Szent-endre, though its divided network established with local ambition, political influence and great impetus represents both a sweet legacy and a burden for the funding body. Undoubtedly, the Csontváry, Zsolnay and Vasarely museums in Pécs are all worthy institutes – and each was renovated for the European Capital of Culture 2010 project, considered partly as a flop – but whether they are viable in their present forms is debateable. Now the town of Pécs has the task of funding its small museums, which used to attract several hundred thousand visitors a year, as well as Hungary’s second largest collection of Modern art. It is worth comparing the circumstances and characteristics of how the two cultural havens were established and operated in the Kádár era, since they disclose much about the efficiency of the cultural policy hallmarked by György Aczél. Furthermore, they were both ‘supported’ in the past in a manner that can still be regarded as acceptable today. The museum networks of both towns were established with Aczél’s direct co-operation, though he also had his own personal reasons. For several decades he had friendly connections with the majority of artists who ‘deserved’ a museum in Szent-endre, while he was an MP for Pécs for 30 years. Hence he regarded the cultural prosperity of both towns as his personal concern and he played a role by initiating, supporting or co-operating with local initiatives. The two towns also had the year 1957 in common: the Spring Collection of that year witnessed some rehabilitation for the artists of the European School, which had been dispersed a decade before. They were able to return from ‘internal emigration’ and as previously isolated ‘modernists’ could set out on the path to recognition and glory. From 1957 the artworks of this circle were obtained by Pécs in several waves due to physician-collector Pál Gegesi Kiss and the gesture whereby an entire museum (the Gallery of Modern Hungarian Art) was founded on the basis of their art can be considered as a form of reparation. The distance between Budapest and the two towns was also decisive. This favoured Szentendre, since the nearby capital ensured the number of visitors whether they represented the diplomatic corps or weekend family visits. It became fashionable among the culturally inclined elite to have some contact with Szentendre, and this linked with the spirit of the place by intensifying the concept of the “artists’ town” that had been promoted for decades. Pécs, which was nearer the southern and western borders of Hungary and far from the capital, was difficult to access. The benevolent distance was, however, clearly instrumental in the birth of modern art workshops, involving theatre, music and ballet, in addition to the Gallery. The basis of the small museums in Szentendre was provided by acquiring the artists’ oeuvres, either by agreement with the artists or their inheritors. In contrast, the art collection of the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs was primarily based on the acquisition of private collections. The local political and administrative management’s enthusiastic contribution, without which no cultural institutions could have been set up, is also something that was common. A peculiar similarity is that both towns have a flagship museum devoted to an artist who was not connected to the locality – Margit Kovács in Szentendre and Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka in Pécs. In Szentendre the museums are scattered within the town centre, whereas in Pécs a ‘museum street’ was formed in Káptalan Street. ‘Szentendre art’ provided a natural basis for the museums there. It is varied but the concept, like the artists’ colony and the community of artists, has existed since 1929 and has predestined the town to establish the collections. Yet Pécs art – if the concept exists at all – can only be traced back to the foundation of the Pécs Workshop in 1970, plus other workshops and the two biennales (sculpture and ceramics) which were established at the same time. They did not generate museums, rather museums facilitated them. The Zsolnay collection dating from the turn of the last century can be regarded as a special local feature. The Pécs Town Museum, the predecessor of the present network of establishments operating under the name Janus Pannonius Museum, dates to 1904 with its natural history and archaeological collections, and an exhibition of ceramic art in one room contributed by the Zsolnay family. The museum was renamed Janus Pannonius in 1951 after the county and town collections merged and came under the ministry’s authority. First the Zsolnay collection was extended from among those of fine and applied arts. The manufactory and its collection were nationalised and the permanent Zsolnay exhibition opened at 2 Káptalan Street – where it can be seen today – in the autumn of 1955. The gift of 350 works donated by Pál Gegesi Kiss represented the first major step towards an independent art collection, which Pécs took in due to Ferenc Martyn’s intervention. That collection provided the basis of the Gallery of Modern Hungarian Art. The Zsolnay Museum was renewed in 1968 and in the following year Éva Hárs, the first art historian of the Janus Pannonius Museum, was appointed its director. She fulfilled this role until her retirement in 1983 and managed one of the most progressive developments in the history of Hungarian museology. Following the exhibitions of Vasarely and Amerigo Tot, the artists contributed to their soon established museums by donating works. In 1973 the Csontváry Museum opened, as did the Uitz Museum in 1978 where Tot’s sculptures were also exhibited. The number of visitors to the county museums exceeded one million in 1976, although the popularity of the nearby Siklós Castle played a role, in addition to the anyway frequently visited Zsolnay and Csontváry exhibitions. The former County Hall was obtained by the Janus Pannonius Museum in 1979 with the aim of providing a final place for the complete, permanent exhibition of the Gallery. The independent Amerigo Tot Museum opened in 1984 and a year later the two permanent exhibitions of the Gallery of Modern Hungarian Painting opened. Its new permanent exhibition presenting the part of the collection comprising works from 1955 to the present opened in 2001 in the Papnövelde Street building. From the mid 2000s the programmes linking with the European Capital of Culture project also played a role in the museum’s development and operation, while the budget of the institution rapidly decreased. Most recently, the drastically cut budget and winding up the county museum network have created quite a stir, while the renovated buildings and restaged permanent exhibitions are attracting visitors. European Capital of Culture 2010 undoubtedly revived the museums in Pécs, the buildings are renovated and refurbished, and this has en-abled the permanent exhibitions to be revitalised.