H-3529 Miskolc, Görgey Artúr u. 28.
(+36) 46/560-170/Ext. No.: 105
The collection provides research services constantly. We offer aid to experts and university students after setting an appointment.
The museum of Miskolc has collected works of fine art ever since its establishment. The institution’s predecessor, the Borsod-Miskolc Cultural and Museum Association set out multiple cultural goals, one of which described the role of the then nascent art gallery in 1899 as such: “Let us establish a gallery as well, however it should not only contain paintings from local artists, but also works from artists throughout the country, so that the poor citizens of Miskolc do not have to travel to Eger or Kassa if they were to see such things.”
Many prominent people worked on achieving this goal. Andor Leszih, custodian, Lajos Selyebi Kiss, the first head of the gallery and Bertalan Balogh were defining figures in the early years of the gallery. Bertalan Balogh, an official at the Hungarian railways (MÁV) and a cultural maecenas, helped organizing the first fine arts exhibition in Miskolc in 1899, where 280 paintings from the National Salon (Nemzeti Szalon) were on display. Balogh also organized the influential travelling exhibitions in Felvidék (now Slovakia) as well. The first exhibit was in 1906 and the second one followed in 1910, visiting the cities of Eger, Miskolc, Kassa, Eperjes, Sátoraljaújhely, Debrecen and Göngyös, presenting assorted works of the best Hungarian painters at the time to audiences who lived far away from the capitol.
The aforementioned exhibition’s significance was more than merely improving public taste. These exhibits provided the opportunity for the first time to buy paintings, thus laying the foundation for the museum’s collection. However the rate of growth was first and foremost defined by the generous offerings of the city’s inhabitants. Many of the received items that became a part of the museum’s collection were often family heritage given by the citizens of Miskolc as their means of patronage.
In the first half of the 20th century, the collection’s content was chiefly defined by that of local history. Works related to Miskolc in some way or another were generally the most popular and in the centre of attention. The museum received works from significant local personalities of the past and from its contemporaries as well: the artist scene was only slowly budding until the 1920s but saw a rapid growth soon afterwards. By the initiative of painter Dezső Meilinger and sculptor Dániel Nyitray a free art school opened in the city in 1919; this local endeavour made the creation of an artist colony in Miskolc possible. The colony followed the traditions and served as a replacement of the then waning artist colony in Nagybánya; from 1921 it functioned as the summer plein air/open air grounds of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Talented young artists who came here to work briefly under the tutelage of Ágost Benkhard and Rezső Burghardt, the devotion to the region and exemplary roles of Károly Lyka and István Réti, as well as the works of local artists and those who settled down in Miskolc all contributed to the city becoming a vital part of the country’s artistic life. Regular exhibitions hosted by the Academy of Fine Arts’ summer artist colony and exhibitions organized by the Lévay József Cultural Association (Lévay József Közművelődési Egyesület) from 1924 and by the Artist Society of Miskolc (Miskolci Művészek Társasága) from 1928 all helped the growth of the museum’s collection.
Due to the local Minorita temple becoming state property the fine arts collection received copious amounts of baroque material, and was properly inventoried in 1953. The Hungarian National Gallery’s director, Éva Bodnár’s scientific definitions for the then 267 piece collection remained to be used as guidelines in the future.
“… this material was literally accumulated, not collected” – is how Guido Zsadányi described the art gallery. He was a talented assistant who was handling the collection in the beginning of the 1960s before his early demise. His observation was ultimately true: even though the way of the gallery’s growth was planned out, the museum was limited by financial constraints when it came to purchases and keeping up with a consistent theme. The rate of growth was still dictated by occasional picture donations.
However this changed in the second half of the 20th century: Miskolc became a significant centre of fine arts and a hosting place for national events. In 1955, the National Art Exhibition of Miskolc (Miskolci Országos Képzőművészeti Kiállítás) was organized, followed by the National Graphic Art Biennale of Miskolc (Miskolci Országos Grafikai Biennálé) in 1961 which would became a regular event; most purchases made there by the ministry, county and city councils became part of the Herman Ottó Museum’s collection. It is from this point that the art gallery’s illustration collection became a significant one countrywide, complemented with duplications gifted by the Hungarian National Gallery. Receiving works from important contemporary Hungarian artists also meant that a direction for planned growth was taking shape.
This new direction was also reinforced by donations and purchases from artist related to Miskolc. In 1975, the museum bought 85 paintings from painter and illustrator Antal Elemér F.’s private collection, including complementary pieces for the collection from artists József Nemes Lampérth, János Mattis Teutsch and Béla Uitz. Contemporary art collections previously in the possession of smaller galleries throughout the county (in Erdőbénye, Parasznya or Szikszó) also became part of the core material. We have to thank writer Mihály Gergely for bequeathing his valuable private collection to his home country which became part of our collection after the end of small gallery movements; we are also grateful for artist Géza Lavotta’s indefeasible accomplishments for collecting and maintaining the material from Erdőbénye as the head of the gallery.
1977 was a significant year for the collection. With the death of the renowned collector Dr. Sándor Petró, his invaluable private collection came into possession of the city of Miskolc and the Herman Ottó Museum. The collection primarily focused on the history of Hungarian fine art from the 1700s until the period between the two world wars. The Petró collection was taken care of by Professor Lajos Végvári, whose capability and two decades of work in our institute still has its mark to this day.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to the art historians who worked at our fine arts department for shorter or longer durations, such as István Dobrik, Gertrud Goda, László Kárpáti and Zsolt Kishonthy, whose activity as an art collector and work as an author of professional writings had a defining role in finalizing the theme of the collection.
Today our core material consists of nearly seventeen-thousand works of art. The fine arts section’s advancement (based on national collection development guidelines since 1977) is still going according to its original intent. We still consider the collection of significant pieces from artists who work in the region as paramount; however we also find it important to create a richer and more complete cross-section of art history by acquiring various Hungarian artworks.
In the first half of the 20th century, the collection’s content was mainly defined by that of local history. Works related to Miskolc in some way or another – through the creator or the subject matter – were generally the most popular and in the centre of attention.
There are traces of an art scene’s existence in Miskolc since the 18th century; however these are only written accounts describing what artists residing in the town at the time were working on. After such humble beginnings, the following century was not teeming with masters either. We know that Mihály Wántza, a versatile individual and painter lived in Miskolc from around 1818 until his death; we also know that from the 1830s, József Kraudy worked here as an artist as well. The city’s first professional painter, Lajos Latkóczy settled down in Miskolc in the early 1860s and worked here as a popular artist. From the following decade we only know about Emma Váncza’s amateur activities; however, by the 1890s the town was enriched with the arrival of artists and art teachers.
The museum received just as important pieces from the above described artists’ life works as it did from later artists who were part of the art scene in the 1900s, which was becoming more regular. József Balogh was born in Miskolc; following his student years in Munich and Nagybánya he returned to his home town and by 1903 he could showcase his talent as a mature artist, being the first of many who would have their own exhibitions. A group exhibition of local artists’ works was organized in the following year, which shows how a larger community of painters (artists and amateurs alike) was formed within a relatively short period of time in the city.
The painter Dezső Meilinger and sculptor Dániel Nyitray were figureheads of this artist community; by their initiative, a free art school was opened in the city in 1919. This local endeavour made the creation of an artist colony in Miskolc possible, which functioned as the summer plein air/open air grounds of the Academy of Fine Arts after 1921. Talented young artists who came here to work briefly under the tutelage of Ágost Benkhard and Rezső Burghardt, as well as the works of local artists and those who settled down in Miskolc (Dézső Mellinger, Dániel Nyitray, József Balogh, Ödön Bartus, Rózsa Hosszúfalusi, Lajos Kiss, Kálmán Tomán, Tibor Szontagh, Béla Hajdú, Kálmán Döbröczöni, Zsigmod Imreh, Kálmán Csabai and many others) all contributed to the city becoming a vital part of the country’s artistic life. Painters originating from Miskolc did not completely sever all of their ties (Elemér Halász-Hradil, Lajos Gimes, Attila Sassy). Regular exhibitions hosted by the Academy of Fine Arts’ summer artist colony and exhibitions organized by the Lévay József Cultural Association (Lévay József Közművelődési Egyesület) from 1924 and by the Artist Society of Miskolc (Miskolci Művészek Társasága) from 1928 all helped the growth of the museum’s collection.
Our collection offers an overview of the fine arts of Miskolc before 1945, however there is greater emphasis on the works of certain artists, such as Ödön Bartus, Lajos Kiss and Attila Sassy.
Kálmán Csabai, Kálmán Döbröczöni and Zsigmond Imreh ensured continuity at the artist colony after World War II, but János Seres was also present as a representative of the next generation. Pál Barczi, Gyula Feledy, László Lukovszky, Miklós Mazsaroff, Imre Tóth and József Vati all moved in the city during the 1950s. Their work is represented plentiful within the collection, as well as the works of the artists after them: Ernő Kunt, Zoltán Lenke and János Pető. A less numerous but just as vital part of the collection includes works from István Bozsik, János B. Szabó, Lívia Keller, László Kaludinyi, Jenő Korkos, Ágnes M. Kristóf, György Ruttkay, István Tellinger, Sándor Várady and István Zsignár.
The exceptional significance of the artist colony in the 1950s and 60s came from its print illustration workshop, which attracted many and nearly made them a part of the city. Béla Kondor had such ties to Miskolc as well; our museum keeps a major part of his legacy.
The works of János Kmetty, who was born in Miskolc, have a special place in our collection. Even though the artist did not keep contact with the city, after his exhibition in the Fényes Adolf Hall in Budapest, he donated thirty pieces of art to the museum from it. Many local artists followed his example; the collection received over fifty works from Attila Sassy in 1963. The museum acquired valuable legacies in the 1970s, having received a collection of over two hundred pieces of art from the self-taught but talented László Ficzere, and over one hundred works from the similarly characterized Dezső Mokry-Mészáros. Lajos Szalay, internationally acclaimed graphic artist’s tint drawings were a part of the institution’s collection since the 1970s, but the collection of his works only became major in 1990 with Ministry aid.
When discussing the fine arts of Miskolc we mainly described those artists whose works are primarily on display in the Herman Ottó Museum; regrettably most of them have already passed away. Although it is primarily the Miskolc Gallery’s role to support, present and collect contemporary artists’ works, our institute still deems it important to carry on the now more than a century old fine arts collection’s original concept accordingly.
Dr. Sándor Petró (1907-1976) studied and received his degree at the Medical University of Debrecen. As a physician, pediatrist and a sport and exercise medicine specialist he was a popular and oft-requested doctor in Miskolc. Following his demise, his sister and heir Mária Petró gave the majority of his invaluable collection, kept in his houses at Miskolc and Budapest, to public ownership in exchange for a fee. The Herman Ottó Museum received a total of 630 works of fine art in 1977, and another 35-piece art collection as well as many applied art items after Mária Petró’s death.
Dr. Petró himself did not write any kind of “autobiography” depicting his activities as a collector. Our knowledge related to that are from publications and testimonials given by experts who knew him personally. Based on these sources we can see how his passion started in the late 1930s and grew more and more intense over the years. Its origins stemmed from two sources: as a child, he had a love for letters, books and illustrations, growing up with his father who was a printer; the other being him inhaling some of the “museum’s air” in his youth, and knowing the director of the museum, Andor Leszih. It was Leszih who diverted Petró’s attention from collecting illustrations to focusing on paintings and memorabilia related to the town’s history. By the 1950s, with the wealth provided by his successful medical practitioning and ample opportunities to purchase works of art, the concept for his collecting took form: striving to thoroughly display 250 years of Hungarian art history.
The role of the collection (which was gathered for nearly forty years) in modern Hungarian art collecting was defined by Lajos Végvári. The collection in Miskolc belongs to the category of private collections established between the two world wars – based on specific criteria – depicting a historical timeline. “The two most important post-world war II collections are that of Dr. Kálmán Tompa and Dr. Sándor Petró.” Professor Végvári writes this about the latter: “… the nature and quality of the collection is akin to Wolfner’s, the difference being that Munkácsy is not represented as well as his significance would demand it, and Szinyei-Merse’s presence leaves some to be desired as well. However the Petró collection’s many other excellent pieces make up for these two shortcomings”. The historicity of the collection is evident by having works of each of the great figures of Hungarian fine arts present, although we can see some subjectivity and the personal tastes of the collector. Looking at the collection as a whole, we can see more emphasis on the art of Károly Ferenczy, József Egry, Lajos Gulácsy, Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka; and Miklós Borsos from the contemporaries.
Sándor Petró acquired his art history knowledge through preparing himself before purchasing works of art (and the from occasional slip-ups), however being in touch with experts such as Éva Bodnár and Lajos Végvári probably had a beneficial effect on his artistic tastes as well. He had every artist monograph and handbooks for each period in his book collection to aid him; part of which was bestowed upon the museum’s library. He never deemed buying a lower quality or fake paintings as failures; sources tell us that “he was first and foremost interested in the message of the painting, its special and unique artistic quirks; historical value was only a secondary concern for him.”
Aladár Henszlmann, art historian Imre Henszlmann’s nephew, worked for over a decade in Miskolc until 1939. He knew his physician assistant Sándor Petró well. We can find the following from Lajos Végvári, Henszlmann’s son-in-law, in the monograph about the history of Miskolc: “When Professor Henszlmann finally moved to Budapest, he left his collection in the hands of Sándor Petró to maintain and expand it. This was the foundation of what would later become the Petró collection”. To our knowledge, there was no list describing the artworks’ origins, nor any detailed description related to origin. While searching for the provenance of the items in the collection, we have to partly rely on spoken accounts, and partly use information given to reproductions in artist monographs and exhibition catalogues as points of reference.
Being in touch with contemporary artists was an important means of expanding the collection, in addition to buying from private collectors and investigating heritages. Petró was able to purchase artwork straight from the studios of not only artists who resided in Miskolc, but also from Béla Czóbel, Borsos Miklós and István Szőnyi, from whom he also purchased a study on Károly Ferenczy for the collection.
Regular art auctions from the Bizományi Áruház Vállalat (a pawn office) were further opportunities to expand the collection for Sándor Petró; just like his travels abroad, being a passionate traveller who spoke in five languages. The political events of the times were also in favour of the collector as we later found out: “During the time of evictions, he saved many pieces of art from getting lost.”
The collection’s main goal to provide a cross-section of the history of Hungarian fine arts is rather multifaceted indeed. It consists of both excellent and sometimes less outstanding works of greater and lesser-known Hungarian masters alike; reproductions and fakes are just as much part of the collection as a smaller segment dedicated to foreign artists, and there are a few of East-Asian pieces as well. Apart from works of fine art, a significant amount of applied art items (casket, Oriental rug, ceramics, etched glassware and furniture), and an assortment of old sheet music and records were also initially a part of the collection, channelling the spirit of “gesamkunstwrek”. Nevertheless, there was no other painting collection this whole, this purposefully complex than this one describing historical process.
The most significant pieces of the Petró collection depicting the timeframe between 1700 and 1900 can be viewed in the Herman Ottó Museum’s Art Gallery as part of the permanent exhibition, along with artwork from the museum’s own collection.