National Bank of Hungary (MNB) governor Mihaly Varga announced the loan of 1,422 contemporary works of art to 30 museums nationwide at a press conference in Budapest on Friday.
"The central bank's new management believes the place of art is not in offices or warehouses, but museums," Varga said. He added that the works would be placed in Hungarian museums in the framework of a partnership agreement with the National Gallery.
Almost 90% of the collection, worth more than HUF 6 billion, will be transferred to 29 institutions in the countryside, while 155 works of art will be transferred to the Museum of Fine Arts-Hungarian National Gallery in the capital.
According to Mihály Varga, this will benefit everyone: domestic museums will be enriched with the opportunity to exhibit more than 1,400 works, which will help increase visitor numbers to the institutions concerned, and those living far from the capital will not have to miss out on seeing the works of art. In addition, the artists also benefit, as their works will now be on display to the public.
Mihály Varga said that in previous years, these works of art were on display in the MNB's internal work areas, corridors, offices, and warehouses, and most of them had not been seen by the general public until now.
Varga noted that the NBH's new management had signaled in March a return to the central bank's fundamental mandate and a rationalisation of activities outside of that scope.
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