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Budapest Museum of Fine Arts
(Budapest) The millenary session of the Hungarian Parliament in 1896 passed a law whereby art collections previously held in different institutions were to be unified and placed in the newly-established Museum of Fine Arts.
On the basis of a competitive tender, Albert Schickendanz and Fülöp Herzog were commissioned to design and construct the building, which opened in 1906. The gallery displaying original paintings was placed in the first floor halls of the neo-classical building; however, only plaster casts were available to illustrate a complete history of European sculpture. It was for these life-size copy sculptures that the Doric, Ionic, Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque halls on the ground floor were designed, imitating the styles of individual periods of art history.
szepmuveszeti.budapest@museum.hu
Museum of Applied Arts
(Budapest) The Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest was founded as the third in Europe, following the ones founded in London (1857) and in Vienna. The parliament session of 1872 agreed to provide 50.000 Fts for purchasing items of applied arts in the world exhibition made in Vienna in 1873. These items meant to be the basic collection for the museum to be founded. The growing collection was displayed in the staircase of the National Museum. Later the collection was taken into the building of the old art gallery (69 Sugár Road).
The opportunity to own a home only came about in 1890. At first a site was purchased (Hőgyes Endre Road) for the museum to be built. Later this site was further extended, and the State wrote out a proposal for designing a modern palace suitable for both the museum and a school of applied arts.
Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos won the competition, but the actual commission to begin work was only given to them in 1893. The inauguration of the building took place as the final event of celebrating the millennium, on 25 October 1896.