Baán: Museum of Fine Arts loans safe

Budapest, February 16 (MTI) – The Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest currently has some 3,000 artworks on loan, more than half of which are lent to other museums or collections and the rest are with state bodies or on a few occasions, with private companies, László Baán, the museum’s director, told MTI.

In connection with a recent case when paintings were lent to Brand Lab Kft, a company associated with Árpád Habony, an informal advisor to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Baán said the works were lent under safe conditions and returned after three months unharmed.

Related article:
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE PAINTINGS OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS WERE FOR MONTHS?

He noted that since 2010 such loans do not require ministry approval.

Baán said he knows Habony well and was a witness at his wedding, but this fact had “no influence in this case”. The paintings were lent for a film shooting, which is a reasonable request, and were kept under safe conditions, which the museum checked, he added. The museum was under no pressure, it acted rationally and gained 500,000 forints (EUR 1,620) from the transaction, Baan said, adding that most of the artworks on loan were usually lent “for practically no charge” and there are many borrowers who do not pay for them at all.