The Hungarian Self-Portraits at the Uffizi

The temporary exhibition showcases twenty-three artworks from the Uffizi Gallery’s collection of self-portraits, most of them were bought at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, although there have been recent additions.

This particular exposition is dedicated to the memory of Miklós Boskovits, a well-known Hungarian art historian and professor at the University of Florence who passed away in 2011.

The exhibition is also an acknowledgement of the friendship between Italy and Hungary that is being celebrated in 2013.

The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between two Hungarian art historians; János Végh and Fehér Ildikó, and Giovanna Giusti curator of the exhibition and Director of the 19th century and contemporary art Department at the Uffizi.

On display are the self-portraits that artists produced for the Uffizi, especially between the 19th and 20th century, right up to those of contemporary artists such as László Lakner. On the occasion of this show, Lakner has donated a second self-portrait painted in 2010, following that of 1970 which he gave to the Gallery in 2000.

The first self-portrait that entered the Uffizi’s collection was that of Károly Markó senior, in 1872; the last, arriving in 2009, is that of János Urbán (1934-) who lives and works in Switzerland. The oldest portrait is that of János Kupeczky (1667-1740), who in the first era of Romanticism was considered the major Hungarian artist of the 18th century.

The majority of the Hungarian portraits were donated to the Uffizi Gallery by the artists themselves, and each painting has its own story on how it became part of the Uffizi’s collection.