What an encounter! A previously unknown masterpiece by Mihály Munkácsy was unveiled in the “company” of his lifelike wax figure. The Virág Judit Gallery found one of Munkácsy’s portraits in Australia. In recent decades, only the painting owners could admire its beauty. The painting has now returned home to be auctioned in December, but before that, the work and its artist had a “date” in the Madame Tussauds Budapest.

The unveiled Munkácsy painting was spotted in the window of a Parisian gallery in the first half of the 1900s by the great-grandmother of the current owner. The lady fell in love with the portrait she and her husband later bought and took home to Australia. The painting remained in the family for generations, and they had no idea how valuable it was.

“We received an email from Australia. The attached image featured a beautiful painting, signed Munkácsy. Months of research and organisation began, during which it turned out that it was indeed a portrait by Mihály Munkácsy,” said Anna Kelen, an art historian at the Virág Judit Gallery. The gallery organised the transportation of the painting – it arrived in Budapest under special security measures.

“The carpenter-turned-artist, Mihály Munkácsy, may have painted this exceptionally beautiful portrait around 1877-78, the model of which is the young Zsófia Zichy. The masterpiece welcomes the viewer with the dreamy gaze of a young girl, with Munkácsy’s unique, light style and loose brushstrokes,” added Anna Kelen.

The previously unknown Munkácsy work was unveiled in a special setting: next to the world’s only wax figure of Mihály Munkácsy in the Madame Tussauds Budapest. After a century and a half, the work and its artist finally met again for an hour.

“Never in our wildest dreams have we imagined, that we would be home to a domestic, yet global art sensation,” said Zsuzsanna Óhidi, COO of Madame Tussauds Budapest. “Mihály Munkácsy’s elegant, handsome figure is one of the visitors’ favourites, so is the installation dreamed up around the wax figure. Thanks to the interactive panel, anyone can become the artist’s model by sitting on the sofa next to the painter, as Munkácsy “paints” the visitor” revealed Zsuzsanna Óhidi. “A series of artists and professionals worked on the figure in London, which was created based on the portrait of Munkácsy by painter Hans Temple. This work clearly shows the tall figure of the then 43-year-old painter, over 180 cm, his fashionable clothes and special blue eyes. During the reconstruction, the colleagues even paid attention to the colour of the socks and patent leather shoes,” added the COO.

The painting titled Portrait of a Young Girl (Zsófia Zichy) will be auctioned at the Virág Judit Gallery on 15 December, with a starting price of 48 million forints and an estimated value of 100-150 million forints.

The Munkácsy painting can be viewed free of charge by the general public at the Virág Judit Gallery (1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa street 30.) between 2. November – 14 December.

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