Museum of Fine Arts
Szépmûvészeti Múzeum

The Museum of Fine Arts Budapest is regarded as one of Europe's most significant institutions. The versatility of its permanent exhibitions, its historical continuity, and the wide array of masterpieces has made it a truly unique establishment. The museum is home to universal artifacts from ancient times to today. They also offer a number of unique programs, guided tours, and a jazz salon.

History
Construction of the museum was commissioned by the millennium act of 1896. Instead of establishing a new collection, its goal was to unite existing collections under one roof. The Museum of Fine Arts inaugural ceremony was held on December 1st, 1906 and attended by I. Franz Joseph. It was opened to the public on December 5th.
Initially the museum did not own any of the art treasures that the aristocracy had accumulated over the years. The reform era was a turning point - members of the nobility began to donate items from their personal collections. Count Ferenc Széchényi started the trend in 1802 when he donated his large collection of books, crests, and coins to the future National Museum. As part of the his collection, there were a few paintings and portraits which served not only to broaden the National Museum's gallery, but also established the basis for the Museum of Fine Arts 100 years before its birth.

Many followed Széchényi's example, although the next major expansion to the National Museum's gallery didn't come until the 30's, when two more private catalogs were donated. This was when Miklós Jankovich, one of Pest's most famous art collectors of the time, contributed his collection of valuable paintings and sculptures and László János Pyrker, archbishop of Eger, donated more than 200 paintings.

Perhaps the most important addition to the Museum of Fine Arts' collection was the National Gallery. This was basically made up of the Esterházy family's massive collection - Pál Esterházy sold his entire collection of more than 600 paintings, 3500 drawings, and 51000 graphics reproductions to the Hungarian state in 1865. The collection included such gems as Raffaello's Madonna and his self-portrait, in addition to Correggio's "Breast feeding Madonna".

In 1875 the fine arts from the National Museum were transferred to the National Gallery, which provided the basis for the Museum of Fine Arts. Károly Pulszky led the gallery until the turn of the century - this era was marked with significant expansion and the establishment of the Sculpture Collection with more than one hundred, mainly Italian statues. Pulszky helped draft the bill that eventually led to the establishment of the new Museum of Fine Arts.

1912 marked the final episode in the line of expansion by noble collections. This time it was the Pállfy family's contribution, which was the largest expansion to the gallery since the Esterházy sale. After this, it was mainly affluent citizens who donated - as did Pál Majovszky with his valuable, modern, primarily French drawing collection.