Artwork Photography in Hungary: The Early Years (1859–1885)

Abstract

This study presents an overview of the historical photography collections in Hungary documenting artworks from the late 1850s through the mid‐1880s. Initially, photographs were acquired by museums, art educational institutions, archaeological and historic preservation organizations either through purchase or as donations. Soon curators, librarians, and cultural administrators recognized the value of documenting Hungary’s important artistic and cultural treasures. By using photographs as the bases for engravings and later photomechanical processes in publications, they could very effectively record and promote Hungary’s collections outside the country. Over the years, photography was also used to record artworks exhibited in temporary exhibitions. The curators, backed with financial support from the cultural ministry, hired the most qualified artwork photographers to create records of the collections as well as exhibitions, such as the Book Exhibition of Budapest in 1882 and the Goldsmith’s Exhibition of 1884. Many photographers (summarized in the appendix at the end of this article) were involved in these early documentation efforts and their legacies remain in Hungarian libraries, museums, and cultural organizations. This article reveals how these artwork photography collections began and where they are today.