INTRODUCTION

With a series of three exhibitions held consecutively at non-profit venues in Budapest - at the new Buda Bartók 1 Gallery, the Újpest UP Gallery, and the Óbuda San Marco Gallery, during the winter of 2019 and the spring of 2020, Sándor Barna looks back on the past twenty years of his collection. The entrepreneur, born in Nógrád, finished building his family house in 1999, which led him to start buying 20th-century works first for the walls and then with the intention of creating a collection. His advisor was Péter Don, who partly selected works from auctions and partly introduced the family to artists connected to him through his decades of activity as an art manager. From the beginning, his daughter, Katalin Barna, accompanied him to these programs, and for example, the art of Gyula Pauer was her choice from the very start, without any formal art education; over time, they acquired numerous works from the artist.