THE GALLERY OF THE HERMAN OTTÓ MUSEUM
2005–2022

The Gallery of the Herman Ottó Museum reached a turning point in 2022. Having received the legacy of art collector István Kövesi (1911–1981) known as The Secret Collection from the National Bank of Hungary at  the end of 2015, the over 40 year old exhibition’s arrangement concept had to be reconsidered in order to properly present the aforementioned collection. The Herman Ottó Museum had preserved the unique artwork collection of art collector Dr. Sándor Petró (1906–1976) since 1977. These two private collections were created around the same time and share same scope of collecting,  which presents a rare opportunity  to showcase the distinguishing features of socialist-era art collecting by exhibiting both collections simultaneously. multaneously. The gallery featuring the collections of István Kövesi and Sándor Petró will be located in the new wing of the Herman Ottó Museum.

The virtual exhibition presents the previous gallery, which showcased some of the most valuable pieces of our Fine and Applied Arts Collections to the public from late 2005 to early 2022. This exhibition followed the same concept as the collection of Sándor Petró, representing Hungarian art history from the 1700s to the mid-20th century. Although the majority of the artworks featured in the gallery are from the Petró collection, it also included several significant works from the same timeframe that were collected by the Herman Ottó Museum. The material provided by the museum further reinforced the strengths of the private collection, and also made up for some of its shortcomings.
The goal of the Herman Ottó Museum’s archival of the old gallery was twofold. On the one hand, we sought to uphold tradition and preserve those intangible values that stood the test of time. The complete overhaul of the contents and concept of the permanent art exhibition is not meant to be a critique of the previous iteration. The shift came in the form of new opportunities and the obligations associated with those.

On the other hand, we also wish to make the artworks that are now entering storage to be still accessible to the public. These works of art are very dear to us, since many were uncovered, acquired and restored by our former colleagues over the past decades. Each of these share strong ties with the history of the museum that was founded in 1899 and are a testament to the life, passionate collection efforts and noble ideals of the institution.

The virtual exhibition allows visitors to become familiar with artworks that cannot be found on display in the new gallery of the museum. High quality photographs, compelling descriptions, games and several other pieces of content await those who are interested in art or are looking for a quality time.