The First Golden Age [antikvár]

György Szegő Műcsarnofe 120 The Műcsarnok in Budapest was opened by Franz Joseph on 4 May 1896 as part of the celebrations on the millennial of the Magyars' arrival in the Carpathian Basin. We are celebrating its 120'" birthday this year. It is a state of grace: 120 is an age which buildings live to see, humans rarely. We celebrate the occasion with the exhibitions The First Golden Age and Gardens and Workshops. Created by the scholarly curator Ilona Sármány-Parsons, and opened on the centenary of the emperor's death, the first takes a look at the age of Franz Joseph and how vying artistic concepts co-operatively contributed to the modernisation of open-minded imperial cultural policies. The Műcsarnok of the time was a major exhibition space that discovered and presented the Central European trends. As artistic director of the institution, I hope that The First Golden Age and the ensemble of exhibitions celebrating outstanding artists - including the major shows of the past two years - will once more make the Műcsarnok the bridgehead of visual culture that it once was. The workshop discussion' commemorating the opening of the Műcsarnok discussed key issues including old and current usage. Art historian Gergely Barki argued that the Műcsarnok "was always a symbol and edifice of official art or official cultural policies".^ The term "official" understandably fosters reservations regarding the Műcsarnok, but let us replace it with the word "representative", which better describes the institution. The works, artists and trends elected to represent ideas and ideals characterises not the Műcsarnok but the given cultural policy. Looking on Heros Square, the building continues to offer an outstanding space to any modern-day exhibition of the visual arts or event of the attending arts. Hosting shows about the historical and present-day canon is, and has been, the duty of the Műcsarnok, as is the broadest outlook and presenting of information. I am talking in particular about the responsibility of the institutional/curatorial scholars in addressing art historians, critics and art-enthusiasts in general about the golden-age exhibition national/international canons of painting. Ilona Sármány-Parsons' crucial Reception of Franz Joseph activity in this field precedes this exhibition.^ One of at the Műcsarnok, the strengths of The First Golden Age exhibition is Vasárnapi Újság, the creative connection to European art. We sincerely 17 May 1896. hope to convey this context to local society, with a Photograph by view to providing inspiration to artistic research Antal Weinwurm. through participating in local art, and to making the Országos Széchényi results available to educated local society. We hope Könyvtár, Digitalis that current cultural policies will continue to support Képarchívum - these researches, like the maintainer of the Műcsar- National Széchényi nok, the Hungarian Academy of Arts supported the Library, Digital Archive creation of The First Golden Age. of Pictures, Budapest