The Gábor Kovács Art Foundation (KOGART) announced in the autumn that it was starting a programme to build up its collection of contemporary art. Within the framework of the programme, the foundation made a commitment to collect at least HUF 100 million each year over the next five years for the support of contemporary art and for charity. A five-member jury was established to purchase artworks with money donated from Hungarian businesses.
Almost a hundred new contemporary artworks were purchased this year. Of these, 25 were put on the auction block on Monday and the proceeds given to the 25 civil organisations.
The foundation acts as a patron both when it organises the purchase of the works for its collection as well as when it holds the charity auction, said the art historian Péter Fertőszögi, who chairs the Gábor Kovács Art Foundation Curatorium. Though just a few of the 25 works on the block find new owners, the foundation bids on all of the lots, guaranteeing each civil organisation a minimum HUF 500,000 from the proceeds of the sale, he added.
Zsuzsi Csiszér, whose piece I Could Even Be a 21st Century Mona Lisa was among the lots at the auction on Monday, said it was great honour for her work to be included in the KOGART collection and put on the block.
In addition to the charity auction, KOGART selects three outstanding artists each year and awards them a purse of HUF 1 million to be used for study abroad. This year, the jury picked the sculptor Botond Polgár, the painter Dániel László and the sculptor Borbála Szanyi.
Author: Éva Kelemen
