The Gallery of the Capital – Works and stories

Temporary exhibition of the Municipal Gallery at the BHM Castle Museum

June 7, 2024 – February 2, 2025

Location: Budapest History Museum – Castle Museum (1014 Budapest, Szent György tér 2., Buda Castle Palace, Building E)

Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–6 pm

The Municipal Gallery operates as part of the Budapest History Museum, in the building of the Kiscelli Museum. While its 40-thousand-piece fine arts collection is of national importance, the works can only be seen occasionally due to the lack of a permanent exhibition. The temporary showcase Municipal Gallery – Works and Stories aims to make up for this shortfall by putting a nearly 150 pieces strong collection on display, presenting works from the birth of Hungarian modernism to the present day and providing a comprehensive account of the history of Hungarian art from the end of the 19th century to contemporary artists. However, this is only one of the narratives the exhibit offers. Among the more than 100 exhibiting artists – about a third of whom are women – are such well-known names as Károly Ferenczy, József Rippl-Rónai, Anna Lesznai, János Vaszary, Sándor Bortnyik, Noémi Ferenczy, Judit Reigl, Vera Molnar, Lili Ország, Katalin Ladik, László Lakner, Dóra Maurer, Orshi Drozdik, Mária Chilf, Ágnes Eperjesi and Kamilla Szíj.

The exhibition is made up of 10 thematic sections, with an emphasis on the different roles fulfilled by women artists, on raptures caused by war, on dilemmas surrounding the question of emigration versus staying home and on the positions of those who, having refused social norms, were excluded from the art historical canon. The arrangement of the pieces does not follow a strict chronological order. The curatorial team of the Municipal Gallery set in motion a diversity of viewpoints, which resulted in unique accents and surprising ensembles. That is how pieces created in the 90s or in the 2010s ended up in the company of works from the early 20th century. The exciting combinations and the questions, some of which were deliberately left open, leave room to different interpretations and invite visitors to think together with the curators. The wall labels and the longer, narrative label “chats” touch upon various themes, too: Not only do they give information about a particular piece but also explore the background of how and when it was added to the collection, providing a critical insight into the institution’s past.

The collection cannot be considered separately from the institution, in itself. Its origin, its history and its continuing evolution and growth are intertwined with the history of the gallery. The installation of the exhibition consciously evokes images of the showcase organised by the Budapest History Museum in the same space about 50 years ago, in 1977, introducing the public for the first time to this exceptional and modern collection being assembled in the capital.