Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog opened a retrospective exhibition of Hungarian surrealist painter Endre Bálint on Friday at the Hungarian National Gallery (MNG) in Budapest.
Balog said the exhibition – the most complete ever of Bálint’s works – has a very clear message: museums have to bring out as many of their exhibits from storage and make them available to the public. He said Bálint’s works also appeal to the more conservative art fans, as the painter was an innovator and a traditionalist at the same time, avoiding known templates but remaining faithful to his own tradition.
The exhibition puts on display 350 works of the painter who was born 100 years ago. The exhibition opens on 1 February and will close on 11 May. László Baán, director general of the MNG said the exhibition is special in more ways than one. Besides the major works of the artist, it will also display some of his major influences, such as works by Picasso, Braque, Chagall and Max Ernst. Baán added that the exhibition will also present a 13th century Catalonian painted wooded beam, which is on loan outside of Spain for the first time ever.
The exhibition’s curator is art historian Marianna Kolozsváry.
(Ministry of Human Resources)
