New Acquisitions – Rarely Seen Works

The Ludwig Museum possesses a relatively small yet internationally significant collection of over 400 contemporary artworks. As the museum’s permanent exhibition is only able to show a small portion of the collection, we make an effort to present a fresh selection from time to time. This time we focus on the museum’s new purchases, in addition to artworks that have not been exhibited for a long time.

The core of the collection was donated by Irene and Peter Ludwig and comprises works by international artists from the sixties to the eighties, complete with a selection of works by major Central-European artists. In 1996 the collection received a new centre of gravity with the establishment of the contemporary art museum, which made it possible to purchase a number of works created during and after the political changes in Hungary.

Naturally, the Ludwig Museum cannot compete with the famous museums of modern and contemporary art, but it is unique in that it presents a region of a special historical and cultural context: the artistic achievements of the so-called “Eastern Block”. Museum purchases have always been guided by current tendencies in contemporary art and its major achievements, so that visitors could keep track of fresh developments from the exhibited works.