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Zoltán Felvinczi Takács (b. 1880, d. 1964) was an art historian, Orientalist and the first director of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts. He pursued his studies at universities in Budapest, Munich and Berlin. He graduated as a lawyer in 1900. Meanwhile he studied painting under the guidance of Simon Hollósy in Munich and Nagybánya. He returned to Budapest in 1902, after an Italian study tour. In 1904 he obtained a doctoral degree in the history of art. In 1906, he started to work at the Museum of Fine Arts, where he was associated with the collection of old engravings and, at the same time, was in charge of the material of the Historical Portrait Gallery. In 1907 he was entrusted with the classification, description and exhibition of Count Péter Vay's Far Eastern collection. From that time on, he gradually became absorbed in studying the art of the Far East. His study tours and the articles he published in this period served him to develop a deeper understanding of both European and Oriental art. He made efforts to introduce the latest results of European research in Oriental civilizations to the Hungarian public. Apart from all this, he was also competent in the field of contemporary Hungarian art. In 1913 he formed a relationship with the wealthy optician and globetrotter Ferenc Hopp (b. 1833, d. 1919) and came to know Hopp's evolving Oriental collection. Felvinczi Takács became Hopp's art advisor and it was partly due to his influence that in 1919 Hopp, modifying his will, decided to keep his collection together and bequeath his villa and garden to the Hungarian state, with the purpose that it should serve as a museum of Far Eastern arts and an institute of Oriental research. Zoltán Takács became the director of the newly founded Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts (at that time operating under the supervision of the Museum of Fine Arts). Thenceforth he dedicated his life to the classification and development of the collection, conducting research in the field of Far Eastern arts and cultures as well as familiarising the public with these cultures. In four years of intensive work, he organised Hopp's collection into a museum and incorporated a considerable number of Oriental art objects transferred by other public collections in Budapest. In 1923 he opened the first permanent exhibition of the Museum, then in 1929 organised an exhibition at the National Salon displaying the treasures of Hungarian private collections of Oriental art. In 1933, on the occasion of the centenary of Ferenc Hopp's birth, he organised a large jubilee exhibition entitled 'The Art of Great Asia'.
After several study toursto Western Europe and the Middle East, in 1935–36 he made a journey to China, Japan and Korea, in the course of which he collected works of art for the Museum. The photographs he took during his journey show his sensitivity as a painter that made him receptive not only to the beauty of land and monuments but also to the lives of the inhabitants.
In 1926 he became an honorary lecturer at the Erzsébet University of Sciences in Pécs, where he received the title of honorary professor (1933). In 1939 he became regular professor and head of the Department of the History of Art at the Ferenc József University of Sciences. When the University moved to Kolozsvár he continued to run courses there (1940–41); later he became a university teacher in Szeged again (1947–50). In 1952, in recognition of his accomplishment, he was given the academic degree 'candidate'. He continued his research work and publishing activity with unflagging diligence even after retiring in 1948; he worked almost every day at the Museum until his death (1964). His activity, which brought him international prestige, laid the foundation of Oriental museology in Hungary.
The photos taken by Zoltán Felvinczi Takács are preserved in the Documentation Department of the Museum. Our virtual exhibition displays a set of these photographs.
Tatjána Kardos
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