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From Botticelli to Titian
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In Baán's first years overseeing the museum, a "sleeping giant" was awoken and the institution found a place it deserved based on the quality of its collection as well as the knowledge of its staff.
Baán said the museum's latest big temporary exhibition, From Botticelli to Titian, has drawn more than 85,000 visitors, but this number is expected to rise over 200,000 because of big crowds over the holidays.
In February, the museum will open an exhibition entitled From Degas to Picasso that includes 55 paintings from collections amassed by two Russian industrialists. In addition to works by Degas and Picasso, the exhibition will include paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Matisse and Cézanne.
In May, the construction of the museum's underground wing will start, adding 7,000 square metres of space by 2011. The addition will house space for temporary exhibitions, as well as a shop, a restaurant and a children's activity area.
The museum will be closed for just a few months because of the construction and will welcome visitors back with an exhibition called Nuda Veritas. Klimt and the Beginnings of Viennese Art Nouveau. The title of the exhibition takes its name from a Klimt painting that helped define the era.
Hungary will take the rotating European Union presidency from January 1, 2011, and the Museum of Fine Arts plans several big exhibitions during the period, said Baán. In January, an exhibition called From El Greco to Rippl-Rónai based on the collection of Marcell Nemes will open, and a show of Cranach organised with the cooperation of the BOZAR in Brussels will follow. The museum will inaugurate its new wing on June 8 with the opening of an exhibition entitled Cézanne and the Past.
If work on the new wing runs behind schedule, the exhibition will find room on the upper floor, said Baán. "We have been building for many long decades, even centuries - for this reason only quality is of importance," he added.
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László Baán
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The addition to the museum is expected to boost visitor numbers by at least 100,000 to an annual 400,000-500,000. But much work is left to be done after the expansion is completed: the museum building requires at least another HUF 15 billion of work, including the reconstruction of the roof, the restoration of the Roman Hall, which has been closed for decades and the installation of climate control in the building. As European Union funding cannot be used for these projects, it will take the state 10-15 years to cover the cost.
In addition to reinforcing its "pillars", the Museum of Fine Arts is entering new areas, said Baán. It recently became involved in an archaeological dig in El-Lahun, Egypt, that has yielded sensational results, although these cannot be revealed until the Egyptian authorities decide to make an announcement.
The Museum of Fine Arts will soon start a programmed dubbed CoolMúzeum that aims to attract teens with "exciting, new content on the web", said Baán.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI, Dániel Kováts
