Szeged museum buys István Csók's famous wardrobe

The Szeged Ferenc Móra Museum has bought famous painter István Csók's favorite piece of furniture, a Secession-style wardrobe estimated to be worth over a million forints. The value of the wardrobe is not just down to its celebrity owner, an impressionist famous for his nudes, portraits, and landscapes of the Lake Balaton, it is also has a celebrity designer, Ede Thoroczkai Wigand, one of the architects responsible for Budapest's world-famous parliament building.

According to stop.hu, the wardrobe, made by Ede Thoroczkai Wigand, was used by Csók's family for several decades after his death in 1961, but they have now decided to sell it. It was bought by an art trader from Budapest. The Ferenc Móra Museum said there had been negotiations about taking the valuable piece to the United States, but it eventually stayed in a Hungarian public collection. The museum paid the purchase price with the help of a tender and its own funds; the exact sum is not known.

The reason the wardrobe was taken to Szeged is that it was first exhibited there over 100 years ago. It is the only piece of furnitue that remains from the works created for the national applied art exhibition held in Szeged in 1901. That exhibition was visited by Csók, who immediately bought the wardrobe for his studio.

The creator of the wardrobe, Ede Thoroczkai Wigand, was a respected architect and artist of his time, who mostly followed the Secession style, but also used motifs from English and Transylvanian art. He participated in designing the Parliament building with architect Imre Steindl. Most pieces of furniture created by him are only known from drawings or photos, which increases the value of Csók's wardrobe.

The artwork will become part of the Ferenc Móra Museum's new permanent historical exhibiton. Until then, it can be seen at the entrance hall of the Fekete ház, the museum's historical exhibition venue.

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