We Hungarians have always been interested in Oriental arts, probably due to the fact that our ancestors themselves were of Eastern origin. In the nineteenth century, many travelers set out to discover the East and those wealthy enough returned with beautiful artifacts from their exotic journeys. However, it was not until Ferenc Hopp's museum (the first one in Hungary that was dedicated to Oriental arts) that private collectors had become interested in displaying their treasures for the whole world to see. The György Ráth Museum was founded with the purpose of housing exhibitions on Asian arts, assembling and presenting the collections of generous Hungarian travelers or specialists who had worked abroad. (The two story villa once belonged to Görgy Ráth, the first director of the Museum of Applied Arts.)
I would like to confess that I was a bit worried before visiting these last two Asiatic museums. I half expected the exhibitions only displaying a few objects that travelers purchased as souvenirs, however, these collections turned out to include exquisite pieces of art, which is impressive. There are artifacts of amazing craftsmanship on display here, objects of great value from many dynasties of Asian history, and some of them are estimated to be more than 2000 years old. While the Ferenc Hopp museum emphasizes on the customes of Asian cultures, the exhibitions here highlight Oriental art itself, dedicating separate rooms for purchases of the most generous donors and artifacts collected in different countries. Each themed exhibition room includes information boards with elaborate descriptions for those who crave some new oriental knowledge. I especially liked these boards because they include fascinating details about the donors, their fields of interest, or the origins of the artifacts on show.
Exhibition Rooms
The Ferenc Hopp Memorial Room provides some trivia on the wealthy traveler and his interest toward the Oriental and decorative arts. Visitors can also see the most beautiful pieces of his rich collection, such as ornamented bronze artifacts or gorgeous ivory carvings. In the Károly Csapek Memorial Room Buddhist-related Sino-Tibetan and Chinese sculptures (15th - 19th century) are in focus. Imre Schwaiger is called the discoverer and patron of Nepalese art and in his memorial room there are, among other things, outstanding gold sculptures on display. The György Ráth Memorial Room (which was once the dining room of the villa) is stocked with luxurious furniture, textiles, as well as beautiful pieces of Oriental and European ceramics.
The next big exhibition hall is dedicated completely to Indian art and it presents the collections of several donors. Through the artifacts presented, visitors can get a glimpse into the most significant periods of Indian art. The emphasis of the next exhibition room is Japan and it presents mainly the purchases of Peter Vay, a priest who travelled to numerous countries to visit Catholic missions; this room was one of my favorites!
Other rooms focus on particular periods and manufactures: funerary ceramics; architectural ceramics, ceramics retrieved from the seabed by underwater archeologists; blue-and-white porcelain, the art of colors - ceramics from the Ching period; and the European trades of Chinese porcelain. By the way, the porcelain collection of the museum is truly amazing, and a native Asian family visiting at the same time as me apparently thought so too; they were in awe and could not stop discussing the gorgeous china in front of them.
I know I tend to get excited about insignificant details, but I must admit that it was a real thrill for me (the movie geek) to finally see vases from the Ming dynasty in person; so many films include scenes where sophisticated people carefully examine and discuss the beauty of ceramic masterpieces from this period (1368-1644) and when I saw Chinese porcelain on display here, I finally understood the appeal.
I went to visit this museum alone, and although I usually like to take companions to share the fun and discuss everything, it turned out to be a great experience; it was refreshing to be able to proceed at my own pace (sometimes in a reverse order), and return to a previous room to reread something or look at an exquisite ivory craving one more time, for instance. Therefore, I sincerely encourage everyone to visit museums alone occasionally. If someone cannot or will not come along, we should still not miss the fun, in fact it may be surprisingly liberating and at the same time, intellectually satisfying.
Tips:
- If visitors go to the Ferenc Hopp and the György Ráth Museums on the same day, a discounted, combined ticket can be purchased (800 HUF for students and 1800 HUF for adults)
György Ráth Museum
Friday-Sunday: 10 am-6 pm
1068 Budapest, 12 Városligeti fasor
http://www.imm.hu/hu/contents/hoppmuzeum
(Please scroll down to find the information on this museum. Please note that the English version of the official website is not yet available, however, should you need any additional information about the museum, please leave a comment)
