Expert questions origin of painting seized in Hungary

Customs guards found what appears to be a lost painting by famed 19th-century Hungarian artist Mihály Munkácsy in a package from the US on July 1.

The painting, Naplemente ("Sunset") was last seen on display at an exhibition in San Francisco in 1915, before it went missing.

The painting aroused the interest of customs guards because it had been insured for $1,500, but was said to be by the little-known painter Kálmán Mesterházy. Customs Guard spokesman Jenő Sipos said a customs official at Ferihegy airport spotted the Munkácsy signature on the left lower corner of the painting, and an art expert established that it was a painting by that artist.

The painting will remain at the National Gallery while an examination of its origin is conducted, after which the customs office will keep it.

The painting is worth an estimated Ft 100 million. However, art collector Imre Pákh, owner of 35 Munkácsy paintings, disputes that the canvas was painted by the famed artist, and says he turned it down after someone offered it for purchase, Magyar Hírlap reports. Even if it were a genuine Munkácsy, it would sell for "only" Ft 30-50 million, Pákh said.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle