Artwork on loan to Hungary safe, says heritage authority

Budapest (MTI) – Art objects borrowed from abroad to be displayed in Hungary are under “strict protection” ensured by relevant laws, the Forster Centre, Hungary’s cultural heritage authority, said in a statement on Monday.

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Under the same rules, paintings imported to Hungary on condition that the object should in the future be returned to the country of origin, cannot be placed on a national list of protected artwork, the statement said.

“Retrieval of artwork on loan from other countries at Hungarian exhibitions is fully guaranteed,” the statement said, citing a 2001 law on the cultural heritage. The law ensures “legal immunity” to cultural objects, and stipulates that artwork on display, if borrowed from abroad, shall not be seized even under an effective court ruling, the document added.

On June 9, the cabinet office initiated a procedure to prevent Mihaly Munkacsy’s monumental painting “Golgotha” from being permanently removed from the country.

The owner, Hungarian-born American collector Imre Pakh, said that he would have “Golgotha” removed from the Deri Museum in Debrecen because talks on the possible sale of the work to the state have fallen through.

The painting is part of eminent 19th-century painter Munkacsy’s famous “Christ Trilogy” and is currently on loan to the Deri Museum, where all three paintings are on display.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters