Hungary to buy former US envoy’s art collection

Budapest, September 22 (MTI) – The Hungarian government will buy the art collection of former US Ambassador to Hungary, Nancy Goodman Brinker, according to a decree published in the official gazette Magyar Kozlony.

The government is reportedly prepared to pay 5.5 million dollars for the collection.

The economy minister has been entrusted with the purchase, transport and exhibition of the entire collection, according to the decree published on Monday.

The collection is planned to be placed in the De la Motte-Beer Palace in the Castle District which the government is refurbishing with 500 million forints (EUR 1.61m) for the collection’s purpose.

The government will provide another 10 million forints over the next ten years for installing and maintaining the collection as a permanent exhibition.

Brinker started to assemble the collection when she served as US ambassador to Hungary in 2001-2003.

According to US and Hungarian press reports, the collection of around 150 works includes paintings by 19th century artists Pal Szinyei-Merse, Jozsef Rippl-Ronai, Janos Vaszary along with canvases by the Hungarian avant-garde Group of Eight, as well as by Vilmos Aba-Novak and Imre Szobotka, and contemporaries such as Laszlo Feher.

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