On Thursday in Budapest, the Directors of the Hungarian Museum of Fine Art and the Shanghai Art Museum in China signed an agreement on the organisation of a large-scale exhibition of the works of Mihály Munkácsy and other 20th century Hungarian artists in Shanghai in 2014.

Deputy State Secretary for Culture Judit Hammerstein stressed that cultural relations between China and Hungary have been especially intensive since 2010 and that despite the huge geographical distance there is clear interest among the two peoples with respect to each other's culture.

This is underscored by several, large-scale exhibitions: the was an exhibition of Hungarian fine art in Beijing in 2011, after which the Hungarian public had the opportunity to view a wide selection of modern Chinese works at a large exhibition hosted by the Museum of Fine Art in Budapest.

One of Hungary's most significant artistic periods will be present not only in China but also in one of the world's largest and most important metropolises, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts László Baán said after signing the declaration of intent on cooperation regarding the exhibition.
The exhibition entitled Mihály Munkácsy and his Era, which includes over a hundred paintings, would be presented in Shanghai between 1 October and 31 December 2014, he added.

Providing an overview of his institute, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Art Museum Li Lei said that the Museum, which had been established through the reconstruction of the Chinese pavilion built for the 2010 World Exhibition in Shanghai, had since become one of China's most important art institutions. Munkácsy's work was already exhibited in China in the 1950s and at the time, the Hungarian artist had a profound effect on the development of Chinese realist art. It is time to organise an exhibition of the works of Munkácsy and his contemporaries, which will contribute to greater awareness of Hungarian art in China, he pointed out, adding that hopefully a large-scale exhibition of Chinese art will also be organised in Hungary in the near future.

(Ministry of Human Resources)