Art Preserved in a Mirror Image

The Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History Archive and Documentation Centre are organizing a one-day conference on István Ferenczy entitled Art Preserved in a Mirror Image.  The invited speakers will be analyzing one of the most important set of objects within the KEMKI ADK collection: the series of daguerreotypes created by Ádám Gola of István Ferenczy's works of art before their destruction. The conference focuses on the museological, collection history, art, photography, and technical history aspects of this historically significant photo collection as well as its relevance to contemporary art.

Conference program:

10:00 – 10:30  Welcome speaches

Dr. László Baán, general director, Museum of Fine Arts

Dr. Gábor Kecskeméti, academic, president of MTA200 EB

Dávid Fehér, director, Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History

10:30 – 11:00  Eszter Békefi: The Ferenczy Legacy then and now

11:00 – 11:30  Márk Szerdahelyi: The First Sculpture Debate in the National Press:

Ferenczy or Casagrande?

11:30 – 12:00  Miriam Szőcs: István Ferenczy’s Collection of Small Bronzes

12:00 – 14:00  Lunch break

14:00 – 14:30  Zsuzsanna Farkas: The Eye of Culture: The Artwork Image

14:30 – 15:00  Bálint Flesch: The Gola-style Ferenczy Daguerreotypes and Early Hungarian Daguerreotype Photography 

15:00 – 15:30  Etelka Baji: Photo-Archive-House of Daguerreotypes

15:30 – 16:00  Zsuzsanna Szegedy-Maszák: From Public Space to Private Space

16:00 – 16:30  Ádám Albert: István Ferenczy, the Artist – Construction, Reconstruction

Speakers:

Ádám Albert, visual artist, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Anatomy, Drawing and Geometry of Art Department

Etelka Baji, historian, photo historian, MNM KK Hungarian National Museum, Historical Photo Department

Eszter Békefi, art historian, Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History, Archive and Documentation Centre

Zsuzsanna Farkas, art historian, photo historian, former colleague of the Museum of Fine Arts  - Photo Archive of the Hungarian National Gallery

Bálint Flesch, archaist, conservation photographer

Zsuzsanna Szegedy-Maszák, art historian, MNM KK Hungarian National Museum, Historical Photo Department

Márk Szerdahelyi, art historian, Budapest History Museum, Budapest Gallery, Department of Public Art

Miriam Szőcs, art historian, Museum of Fine Arts, Collection of Classical Antiquities

Date: 13 November 2025, 10 am – 5 pm

Venue: 1135 Budapest, 33–35 Szabolcs Street, building C, Zsigmond  and Adél Bródy  Venue

Participation at the conference is free of charge.

Please note that audio and video recordings will be made at our events. These may be used by the Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI) on its website and social media platforms for the purpose of promoting our events. By participating in the event, you acknowledge and accept that you may appear in these recordings.