The 19th Century Exhibition [antikvár]

The 19th Century Collection T . HE PERMANENT EXHIBITION displaying the selected paintings and statues of the 19th century collection is situated in the left-side wing on the ground floor surrounding the inner courtyard of the Museum of Fine Arts. At the time the building was planned (1898) Albert Schickedanz also fulfilled the required task of designing a five-hall wing suitable for the exhibition of the plaster-casts of antique statues while giving the inner execution a feeling of antique architecture. In 1906 by combining a collection of paintings from the Hungarian National Museum and the National Gallery a new institution was opened, where the old art was represented at a European level, however, the pieces from the last century were more modestly available. The collection was increased through purchasing, donations and bequeathing over short periods of time, which failed to result in the total selection of the European art of the 19th century, even so, it includes a number of masterpieces and rarities, or some detailed shorter periods. The arrangement asserts the value of the architecture: the independent impression of the halls, the impressive association between the halls, the rhythm of the alternating interior spaces and the carefully renovated high standard decorations. The first two halls line up the prime part of the French works of art of the collection dating from romanticism to the end of the century. It is self-evident to commence with the French masters, their ingenuity determined newer and newer trends in universal art, their refined taste became the standard and their liberated attitude towards life was one to whirl along. When entering we see the striking work of art by Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) with his A Moroccan with his Horse, the purest romanticism. The exoticism is just as characteristic as the oppressive poignancy, the passion and last but not least the glowing colours. Wind is tugging at the mane of the thoroughbred exasperated by the dog, the saddlecloth in the hands of the owner, while chasing the clouds. The brushwork fading the contour is eventful, the alternating reds and blues, and the rhythm of the dark and hght patches. The picture titled Nest-watchers Near Castel Gandolfo painted in 1825 by Camille Coroi (1796-1875) during his first visit to Italy preserves neo-classic traditions. The group of buildings behind the scene of the stream-bank is Castel