Ludwig Museum Budapest

Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art (1095 Budapest, Palace of Arts, Komor Marcell u. 1., founded: 1989)

The museum collects and presents contemporary art works, possessing a significant Hungarian and international fine arts collection. Since March 15, 2005 it operates in the Palace of Arts, under modern museum‑technology conditions. Its area is 3300 m², occupying four levels on the western, Danube‑facing side of the palace. The museum has an archive, a specialist library and a museum‑educational facility. The basis of the collection consists of the gifts and long‑term deposits of the Ludwig couple from Aachen.

History

Peter and Irene Ludwig donated 70 international contemporary artworks to the Hungarian National Gallery, and placed an additional 96 contemporary works in permanent deposit. The agreement was concluded between the Ludwig couple, the Hungarian National Gallery, and the Ministry of Culture and Public Education, in 1989. The Hungarian National Gallery added its own contemporary art works to the gift, thereby creating the basis of a contemporary art museum, which was first named Ludwig Museum Budapest in honor of the donor collector couple.

Both members of the Ludwig couple studied art history and philosophy at the University of Mainz. Peter Ludwig wrote his university dissertation on Pablo Picasso’s depiction of the human figure. They began collecting art in the 1950s, but initially only collected older art, except for Picasso’s paintings; the latter’s special reason was obviously the husband’s heightened interest in the artist’s works. It turned out that the Ludwig couple’s collection of about 800 Picasso pieces became the largest in the world. Soon they began collecting contemporary art as well, extending their interest to works by artists from the GDR, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, and Hungary.

Today most of the Picasso collection is in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, but the other museums they support also received parts of this collection; the Hungarian Ludwig Museum to be established also received three late Picasso paintings and a series of plates decorated with bullfighting scenes. The Ludwig couple founded several museums in Germany, donated a larger collection to the Vienna Museum of Modern Art. After the regime change they also founded museums in Eastern and Central Europe. First they donated part of their collection to the Hungarian National Gallery, then to the St. Petersburg Russian Museum, and in 1996 a Ludwig collection also opened at the National Museum in Beijing.

After the death of the couple, the Foundation continues to operate in Aachen. In Budapest the Ludwig Museum first operated in the “A” building of the Buda Castle, next to the Hungarian National Gallery, and later in a form organizationally independent from it. It opened to the public in 1991, its permanent exhibition featuring the most famous works of the Ludwig Collection (works by Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg from the 1960s, and from the 1970s to the late 1980s for example Georg Baselitz, A. R. Penck, Jörg Immendorf (1945–2007), works by Markus Lüpertz) and new acquisitions purchased from Hungarian artists and artists of the surrounding countries. In 1996 the Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art reopened, and in 2005 it moved to its new, final location in the Palace of Arts, its former location in the Buda Castle being taken over by the Hungarian National Gallery.

The museum continuously organizes temporary exhibitions on its three floors. Since 2015 the Ludwig Museum has organized the visual arts and architecture exhibitions of the Hungarian pavilion of the Venice Biennale and operates the Hungarian Pavilion built in 1909. In addition to the exhibitions, with its events, publications, varied applied arts programs and children's workshops, it does a great deal to introduce contemporary art. The Ludwig Museum Library is Hungary's largest specialist library for contemporary art with international material, whose main collection focuses on Hungarian and universal art after 1945, especially the visual arts of the Central‑East European region. The institution is the national methodological centre for museum pedagogy of contemporary art. The museum's first director was art historian Katalin Néray for more than a decade (1993–2007). He was succeeded by art historian Barnabás Bencsik (Budapest, 1964–) from 1 March 2008 until 2013. The current director of the institution is art historian Dr. Julia Fabényi.

According to the government's intention, the Ludwig Museum was to continue operating in the new Museum Quarter being built on the Ötvenhatosok site. However, in October 2015 László Baán announced that the Ludwig Museum would not move to Városliget, but would remain at its original location.

In 2005 the museum's Modern Colors and Art Criticism publication received the Museum Pedagogy Excellence Award.

In 2012 the museum's Integrated Family Morning program received the Museum Pedagogy Excellence Award.

In 2019 the Ludwig Museum won the Global Fine Art Awards (GFFA) 2018 You‑2 audience award with its exhibition Permanens Revolution. Contemporary Ukrainian Visual Art.

In 2019 the museum's program "Color/Form/Space/Light – Bauhaus Theatre Summer Camp" received the Museum Pedagogy Excellence Award.

In 2019 the museum established the award called the ART‑transfer Prize, awarded through a competition to recognize the mediation of contemporary art.

In 2020 the Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art received the “Museum of the Year” award.

In 2020 the museum received the “Community Museum” recognition.

In 2020 the institution received the title “Family‑friendly museum.” The prize money associated with this was spent on the development of Lumi Square, which creates comfortable, well‑designed facilities for visitors arriving with small children who wish to rest between two exhibitions.

In 2024 the exhibition “Caution, Fragile” – whose curators were Rita Dabi‑Farkas and Viktória Popovics – received the award of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) Hungarian Section in the “Best Curatorial Project” category.