Ludwig Museum director Barnabás Bencsik said Hungarian audiences will get to see a collection spanning the photographer?s entire career for the first time. The show, called Martin Munkácsi: Think While You Shoot, has already been to Hamburg, San Francisco, Berlin and New York, he added,
The exhibition?s curator is the German photo reporter and fashion photographer F.C. Gundlach, who started collecting Munkácsi?s vintage works in the 1970s, buying them from collections, archives and even at flea markets. Some of the photos for the show came from the photographer?s daughter Joan Munkácsi, from private collections and also from Ullstein Bild, the German photo agency that employed Munkácsi in the 1930s.
The director said the show had a ?troubled history? similar to that of Munkácsi?s life work.
?It was a heartfelt matter for Mr Gundlach that the show should visit Budapest, and he started talks about it in Hungary years ago already, but with no success,? Bencsik said. The owners wanted to get the pieces back by the time an agreement was reached last year, he added.
Many of Munkácsi?s works in Hungary ended up in a warehouse, unsorted, but were stolen in the 1960s.
?Then in 2007 somebody offered Munkácsi negatives for sale on ebay. The International Center of Photography bought these for more than one million dollars,? Bencsik said.
Since this collection is still being sorted, it has been omitted from the current show. However, in a few years, a new and more refined image of Munkácsi?s work could be developed thanks to the find.
Bencsik said a few ?lost? Munkácsi photographs have been found in Hungary as a result of the approaching show.
?Photos have been sent in from unexpected places and we hope that more will follow,? he said. The curator will decide whether these newly found photos will be added to the show, he added.
The exhibition?s coordinator Kata Oltai said the show, which runs until January 9, will involve a number of accompanying events, such as guided tours and presentations by renowned photographers and art historians.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI
