Expat docents making the most of fine arts in Budapest

"I want to paint air," says Ron Schmitz, quoting Claude Monet on his fixation with light and mood. And he gestures to the two pieces by the famous Frenchman in the 19th century gallery at the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum). In his hour-long tour, Schmitz shows how splashes of color foreshadow Monet's trademark impressionism and how wrestlers and horse racers meeting in a Gustave Courbet realist painting represent transient social values. Schmitz is an American who has lived in Budapest for eight years, but just as he is no longer a tourist in Budapest, he is no ticket-paying art museum visitor showing his favorites to his friends. He is a volunteer member of the English-speaking docent training program that gives English-speaking locals with free time during weekdays a chance to step into the museum as resident art experts.

The Museum of Fine Arts' Docent Program is a 15-year tradition and, along with the Ludwig Museum's similar initiative, the second English-speaking docent program in Budapest. Every day, a docent gives a free tour in English of one of the Museum's permanent collections and some of the temporary exhibitions. To become a docent, volunteers must complete a 10-visit program costing Ft 40,000 and pass an oral and written exam. There are approximately 40 active docents, hailing from India, Mexico, the UK, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and ,of course, Hungary. The latest training course begins on January 29.

Docents are an integral part of the Museum, says Edima Deme, director of the Education Department. She recently took charge of the program when the Museum of Fine Arts formally incorporated the docent program in 2007.

"The museum and the docents now have a great connection - intellectually and practically," she says.

Anyone can become a docent, provided they have free time during the day, don't need to be paid for their services, and have an interest in sharing knowledge about the arts.

Deme says many docents are brought to Budapest by their spouses' careers and want to do something interesting in an inspiring environment that doesn't require a work permit.

This is how Tanja Zec-O'Neill - now the program manager - got involved.

"We moved to Budapest for my husband's job, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I wanted to be a part of something," she says. Zec is Serbian and had lived in Canada for the previous 12 years. "Then I became a docent. It really changed me."

She said that if someone is interested, she hopes the fees will not deter anyone, and is willing to set up a payment plan if that helps.

"I would never want something as enriching and public as art to be inaccessible to someone because of money," she said. And for those who have free time during weekdays to participate, it is well worth it, agrees Schmitz. He's a former social worker who moved to Budapest and also has a bed and breakfast in District VII. "It's a wonderful way to learn and teach others."

After his tour of the 19th century French collection spanning Romanticism to Post-Impressionism and including paintings by Delacroix, Corot, Courbet, Manet, Monet, Cézanne and Gauguin, Schmitz heads over to the gallery of Spanish masterpieces - it's the second largest in the world - to meet students who were on his tour.

On the way across the he gives a nod to the Latin inscription on the vast marble wall: Ars longa, vita brevis, (Art is Lasting, Life is Short), and explains that this is reason to open a museum, or to become a part of one, to breathe in the lasting meaning and history. In this case, he does so not as a visitor, but as a resident expert.

"If you in Budapest for a short time and want to do something meaningful and interesting with your free time, it's worth becoming a docent. It's a lifetime investment," said Deme.

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