Ferenc Matits, born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1958. Ph.D. from the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Curator of Dutch, Belgian and Scandinavian Nineteenth Century Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.
Magyar Fellow (1 September 1994 – 31 January 1995)
During my stay at NIAS I have worked on different subjects relating to my field of study and interest. In September I prepared the paper, which I gave in Germany at the Romantic Conference later that month. My subject was the Life and Work of the Hungarian sculptor István Ferenczy (1792-1856) during his time in Rome (1818-1824) in the circle of Bertel Thorvaldsen and Antonio Canova. I re-worked this lecture into an article which hopefully will be published in 1995.
My main project was research on Dutch 19th century art. I spent a great deal of time in the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) in The Hague collecting materials regarding the Dutch works in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
The NIAS library helped my work with collecting many books and articles, which are not available in Hungary. I am happy to say that I could finish my article for the catalogue of the planned Hague School exhibition, which should be realized in December this year in Budapest in co operation with The Hague Municipal Museum. The Budapest exhibition will show besides Dutch art also its influence on Hungarian art. Some Hungarian artists worked in Dutch style and won considerable honour and admiration with paintings of Dutch subjects. The study of the hollandism in the art of several other countries was also my subject. I started a study on the appreciation of 19th century art on the art market as well, which I hope to continue in Hungary.