From the Archives of the Lectorate of Fine and Applied Arts: Minutes of Exhibition Authorisation Meetings

The archival material of the Lectorate of Fine and Applied Arts—which comprises part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts–Central European Research Institute for Art History (ADK)—contains the minutes of meetings that were held from the 1960s to the 1980s for the purpose of evaluating exhibition proposals awaiting official authorisation. From 1963 onwards, the Lectorate had a primarily censorial role in the system of authorising exhibitions and the works showcased at those exhibitions. When it came to the most prominent exhibition spaces (Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle Budapest, Ernst Museum, Csók Gallery, Mednyánszky Hall, and Adolf Fényes Hall, etc.), and rural exhibition spaces of national significance, it was the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Education that approved the creation of exhibitions. After approving a given show, it was the task of the professional jury, appointed by the Lectorate, to select the artworks to be displayed, as well as to price (determine the artist’s renumeration) and classify those artworks (marking them “suitable for sale to the public”). If applicable, the jury—which consisted of two or three artists or art historians delegated by members of the Association of Fine Artists—was also responsible for awarding prizes. In addition, representatives of the organising body, the council and—in the case of prominent exhibitions — the regional party organisation were invited respectively, without the right to vote. The jury decided matters by majority vote. The exhibiting artist or the organising body had fifteen days to file an appeal with the Lectorate. At the suggestion of Tibor Ormos (who was the first director of the Lectorate from 1963 to 1976), the authorisation system was later changed. From 1966 the Lectorate became the regulatory body responsible for authorising exhibitions as well. In practice, the system of judging exhibitions became increasingly formalised in the second half of the 1980s, and was officially abolished with the change of regime in 1989. The documents of the jury process serve as a unique resource for studying Hungarian art policy in the second half of the twentieth century.

/Dániel Lőrinczi/