press release - Grand Palais

press release
Masterpieces from
Budapest
Dürer, Greco, Tiepolo, Manet,
Rippl-Rónai
9 March - 10 July 2016
Musée du Luxembourg
19 rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris
Exhibition organised by the Réunion des musées
nationaux – Grand Palais, the Museum of Fine Art,
Budapest and the Hungarian National Gallery.
As Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, the famous Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, embarks on a major
programme of renovation work requiring it to close its doors, the most outstanding masterpieces
on which its reputation is based are to go on display at the Musée du Luxembourg.
Budapest is known for the richness of its collections housed at the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum and
at the Hungarian National Gallery, and also for the originality of their shared history, which has
its roots in the 19th century. Their genesis bears witness to the desire of the public authorities
of the time to provide the Hungarian capital with a world-class institution offering the best of
Hungarian and European art, essential to the formation and elevation of the populace. Driven by
a dynamic, well-thought-out cultural policy, the idea of a fine-art museum took shape in 1871, with
the acquisition by the State of some six hundred masterpieces from the collection of the Princes
Esterhazy. It was subsequently expanded thanks to the generosity of Hungarian collectors, keen
to contribute to the enterprise by gradually filling in the gaps in the original core collection. 1896
marked a decisive turning-point: that year, parliament decided to have built a single large building
to house all these treasures, which at the time were displayed in various sites across the city. In
the history of Hungary, the creation of this museum coincided with a period of economic growth
and a golden age for the arts. Built on the edge of the large city park, the new building – a
veritable “Temple of the Muses”, marked by references to classical architecture – opened in 1906.
It soon became a popular meeting-place among the inhabitants of Budapest, and one of the most
prestigious collections in central Europe.
Beyond the opportunity to see in Paris works by Dürer, Cranach, Greco, Tiepolo, Goya, Manet,
Gauguin and Kokoschka, the exhibition recounts the Hungarian capital’s unique relationship with art.
Some of the most spectacular works, from medieval sculptures to Hungarian symbolism, promise
to be an entirely new discovery for visitors to the Musée du Luxembourg, as the Szépmüvészeti’s
Múzeum collections are joined by those of the Hungarian National Gallery.
The exhibition is in chronological order, sometimes focusing on the specific characteristics of a
particular school (e.g. the Dutch Golden Age so beloved of the Esterhazys), while also developing
Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of a young man, aroud 1500-1510, oil on pannel, 42,8 x 34,5 cm
Budapest, musée of Fine Arts, © Musée des Beaux-Arts, Budapest 2016
a number of cross-cutting themes, illustrated in a highly original way in the collection, which
alternates between portrait, imaginary figure and genre scene, from Hoffmann and Rubens to
Messerschmidt, Goya, Fùssli and Manet.
Religious painting is also evoked through the European schools, to create encounters rich in
meaning. Meanwhile, visitors are offered a new perspective on the symbolism and expressionism
of the turn of the 20th century, through the presentation of Hungarian masterpieces alongside
works, equally rarely seen in France, by Böcklin, Rodin and Puvis de Chavannes.
Some 85 paintings, drawings and sculptures, then, rise to the challenge of recreating in the small
space of the Musée du Luxembourg all the splendour of a museum like no other, to offer an
unexpected take on European art.
.......................................
curators: Laurent Salomé, head heritage curator and scientific director at Rmn-Grand Palais; Cécile
Maisonneuve, PhD in history of art, scientific advisor to Rmn-Grand Palais.
exhibition design : Jean-Julien Simonot
.......................................
open : daily from 10am – 7pm,
and until 9:30pm on Fridays
closed on 1rst May
publications by Réunion des
musées nationaux-Grand Palais,
Paris 2016 :
rates : € 12, concessions € 7.5
(16-25 yearsold, job seekers and
large families). Free for children
under 16, low-income benefit
recipients. Special young : € 7.5
for two entrances (from monday
to friday from 5 pm)
- exhibition catalogue, 22,5 x 26
cm, relié, 208 p., 165 ill., 35 €
access: Metro St Sulpice or
Mabillon, Rer B Luxembourg
Bus : 58 ; 84 ; 89 ; Musée du
Luxembourg / Sénat stop
information and bookings:
museeduluxembourg.fr
www.grandpalais.fr
#BudapestLuxembourg
press contacts :
Réunion des musées nationaux
- Grand Palais
254-256 rue de Bercy
75577 Paris cedex 12
- exhibition album, 21 x 26,5 cm,
relié, 48 p., 45 ill., 10 €
Florence Le Moing
[email protected]
+33 1 40 13 47 62
- exhibition e-album, € 4,99 (Apple
Store and Google Play)
Julie Debout
[email protected]