"The boy born in Városház Street has returned home with his works of art," said Minister of Education and Culture István Hiller at an event before the opening of the exhibition.
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai officially opened the show on Thursday evening.
The exhibition shows Capa images recently purchased by the Hungarian National Museum from the International Center of Photography in New York with a grant from the Ministry of Education and Culture. They include a limited series of 937 paper positives dubbed the "Robert Capa Master Selection". The series, reproduced just three times, can be found in New York, in Japan, and now in Budapest.
Hungary first received an offer to purchase the set of photographs three years ago, but closed talks only in December of 2008, Hiller said. A permanent exhibition of Capa photographs could open in Budapest as soon as 2011, he added.
LUMU is showing 206 photographs from the collection in the exhibition, said chief curator Lívia Páldi. The images are being shown alongside eleven vintage copies, five portraits and Capa photographs that earlier found their way to Hungary, she added.
ICP director Willis E. Hartshorn said it was Cornell Capa's dream for his older brother's photographs to be brought to Hungary.
The exhibition will run at LUMU until October 11, 2009. Afterward, it will travel to 13 cities around Hungary, including Salgótarján, Miskolc, Sárospatak, Debrecen, Szolnok, Békéscsaba, Szeged, Szombathely, Győr, Székesfehérvár, Dunaújváros, Paks and Pécs.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: Eszter Gordon
