Are you a fan of Impressionism?

Then I have a great place for you to visit in Budapest: it’s Kogart House on Andrássy Street. A temporary exhibition has opened for those interested in impressionism, titled In The Current of Impressionism. Several works of great Hungarian painters can be found in the gallery, such as Mihály Munkácsy, Gyula Benczúr, Oszkár Glatz, Antal Csók, János Vasary – just to mention a few of the most famoust ones.

Impressionism meant a completely new chapter in the history of art in the 19^th century as it opened doors toward modern arts. All impressionist works have a special atmosphere that had not been expressed before: these paintings capture the freedom and happiness that people were able to find only in nature. In most of the pieces the visitor will find people having fun and enjoying themselves outdoors: sitting in boats, lying on the grass, taking walks in the woods, having a picnic, etc.

The exhibition provides an overview of the early Hungarian impressionist artists from the 19^th century until the 1910’s. The paintings have been collected from all around the world, such as, the United States, Germany or Austria. Probably the two most important pieces of these are “Szánarakás” by Mihály Munkácsy and “Anya és gyermekei” by Pál Színyei Merse. Interesting to know that the latter one had never been exhibited in Hungary before.

The exhibition is open from April 3^rd until August 2^nd.

Kogart House can be found at: 1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 112. (Just across Hero’s Square)
Phone:+36 1 354 3820

Visiting hours:

Monday-Saturday: from 10 am to 5 pm Sunday: from 10 am to 8pm

And did you know that he was born exactly two hundred years ago?

I’m talking about Mr. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) whose birth bicentennial is being celebrated with two exhibitions in New York right now. Both shows are devoted exclusively to Lincoln; although they are very different ones , they complete one another very well.

The first one is organized in the Library of Congress, and titled “With Malice Toward None”. This show is clearly about words, as it includes almost all major Lincoln documents starting with the copybook from his boyhood, which were probably his first written words, and acopy of his first grammar book. Naturally, more “powerful” documents can be found as well, such as the text which is believed to be the oldest copy of the Gettysburg Address, or the first and second inaugural addresses. By this very impressive exhibition we can clearly see how Lincoln’s language and rhetoric skills progressed throughout his life.

The second one is called “Designing the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon “. It is held in the National Gallery, and it is a rather tiny exhibition, as it is tucked into a hallway of the museum. It shows Bacon’s model of the Lincoln Memorial, a wooden statue that concentrates on the proportions of the memorial, rather than its details. As French's plaster cast is one-third the size of the original statue, the visitor has the chance to look Lincoln in the eye and not only his shoes.

The latter exhibition is open until February, 2010; however, if you decide to pay a visit to the former one, you might need to hurry a bit as it closes in May, 2009.

Ok, I do know that there isn’t a big chance that any of us will visit these exhibitions; and it’s not because of my lousy review.:) However, if you do decide to pop over to the Big Apple to check out Lincoln's first grammar book, don’t forget to take me with you!:)