Unavoidable art
MúzeumCafé 6.
There cannot be many finance companies in the world which are accessible only via an art gallery, passing by paintings and sculpture. Yet Hamilton Stockbrokers in Budapest is just like that – the Aulich Art Gallery, sponsored by the firm, operates on the ground floor. A peculiar love affair is basically the reason for the mutually beneficial cooperation. The result is not only a developing contemporary private collection and a creative circle of collectors who are friends, but also an exhibition space jointly inspired and managed by them. The Aulich Art Gallery, which occupies some offices upstairs and the ground floor exhibition space, was named after the street in which it is located. Its first exhibition, displaying works by István Madarassy, opened in November 2000. Since that first show more than fifty exhibitions have been encountered by those who visit Hamilton to arrange their finances. There is no way to avoid the works of art. Future plans of the gallery include an exhibition of Hungarian painter-doyens on the Day of Painting, when the award for life-time achievement in painting is traditionally presented. Meanwhile book publishing is underway. A volume about the gallery’s first 25 exhibitions is already in the pipeline and monographs on individual painters are also planned, the first being a study about artist Tamás Kárpáti. The right to select lies with the founder, István Márkus, and his circle, i.e. with all the artists, art enthusiasts, critics and collectors whom he has drawn together due to his love for contemporary art.