Hungarian Institute Paris Inaugurates Vasarely Gallery

The Hungarian Institute in Paris

Many of the works in the exhibition are on loan from the Vasarely Museum in the Hungarian city of Pécs. Vasarely himself left the paintings to the museum in 1976.

 

"Most of the paintings are original tempera and oil paintings, and therefore especially valuable - (Vasarely) later took the patterns from these works to make his giant textile pieces," said museum director József Sárkány.

 

The Vasarely Museum is representing Pécs in the run-up to 2010, when it takes the European Capital of Culture title, said the city's mayor Péter Tasnádi.

 

The Hungarian Institute's director András Ecsedi-Derdák said a new curatorship scheme would be launched under which a different curator will have the chance to shape the programme at the Vasarely Gallery each year. The aim of the programme, which is supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the National Culture Fund, is to show a wide range of works - including design, fashion, animation and video - by contemporary Hungarian artists as well as to establish a closer cooperation with the French arts scene.

 

The St-Art contemporary European art fair in Strasbourg will feature a 400-square-metre Hungarian stand when it opens on November 21. Three Hungarian galleries - the Erika Deák Gallery, the ACB Gallery and the Nessim Gallery - will show at the stand. The Hungarian Institute in Paris is supporting the exhibition of a collection of photographs by the greatest Hungarian photographers of the 20^th century, among them Brassai, André Kertész and István Svéd, as well as contemporary works, including video installations by Péter Forgács, drawings by László Révész, paintings by Ágnes Szépfalvi, water colours by Zsuzsa Moizer and photographs by Tibor Gyenis. Unpublished art videos from the collection of the art critic Eszter Lázár will also be on display. The collection includes works by Marcell Esterházy, whose works will also be at the Paris Photo fair in November, together with works by the photographer Szabolcs Barakonyi, who won the Lucien Hervé prize last year.