New dynamics on the art market

Written by Christina Vontin

A large-format painting by Mihály Munkácsy achieved the highest sales price of the year at an auction in Budapest at 155 million forints (just under 390,000 euros).

The painting ‘Rendezvous at the Window’ by Mihály Munkácsy (pictured) sold for well over the opening price of 40 million forints at the auction in the Judit Virág Gallery. The work, which was created in France, had been part of a Hungarian art collection since 1914, interrupted only by a brief stay in Paris. A ‘Flower Arrangement’ by János Vaszary from 1909 realised a sale price of 90 million forints, based on a starting price of 65 million forints. Béla Kondor’s painting ‘The Nun and the Priest’ from 1961, one of the most important works of his tragically short career, changed hands for 50 million forints. László Mednyánszky’s large-format work ‘Landscape in a Haze of Light’, created around 1895 in the Tatra Mountains, was sold for 17 million forints.

Anna Kelen, art historian at the ‘Judit Virág’ Gallery and head of the auction, emphasised the exceptionally high number of sales and hammer prices at the well-attended auction. This demonstrates the dynamism of the art market and the increasing interest of the younger generation in art.