REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

26
Remembrance in Time
1936 was a highly important year from the point of view of the growth of the
collection, when the limner János Tornyai donated all his works, owned by him (562
paintings and 361 graphics). 2
The museum life during the communism (1945-89)
In the WWII nor the city or the museum was seriously damaged, but the chaotic postwar
years caused significant damages. According to the agreement of the coalition parties
in 1945 the building of the museum was given to the Social Democratic Party. The
collection of the museum was quickly delivered to different buildings of the Party (to the
house on Mária Valéria Street and then to the house of Ernı Nagy on the Kálvin Square)
without any register by political prisoners. During the delivery many objects were
damaged, and several ones disappeared (DÖMÖTÖR 2004, 28).
On the 1 st of February 1946 the poet Miklós Gallyasi was appointed to be the new
director of the museum. He was the director up to 1957. In 1948 the museum could move
back to its former building, and after the library had been removed, it became a separate
institution. When the buildings in the neighbourhood were nationalised, the museum
could also get the former Korda-house (18, Szentesi – today Dr. Rapcsák András –
Street), so it could expand. Under the wings of Miklós Gallyasi the museum became the
centre of the local fine arts. Furthermore, Gallyasi was able to convince and involve to the
work of the Vásárhely museum, like József Korek (the vice-chief director of the
Hungarian National Museum), Lajos Kiss (ethnographer, awarded with Kossuth-prize)
and Éva Bodnár historian of art (monographer of Tornyai).
It is an important milestone of the history of the museum to open the first Autumn
Exhibition in 1954. Since that year it has been organized every autumn (DÖMÖTÖR
2004, 36-37).
From the point of view of archaeology the permanent archaeological exhibition –
opened in 1949 was a very important event. It was made by János Banner with the
cooperation of József Korek and Mihály Párducz; and it could be visited till 1969. That
was the first permanent archaeological exhibition in the country (DÖMÖTÖR 2004, 29-
31). During the management of Miklós galyasi Elemér Zalotay (from 1952 to 1953) and
then, between 1954 and 1958 Gyula Gazdapusztai was the archaeologist of the museum.
Miklós Galyasi directed the museum up to 1957, when he was imprisoned for his
activity in the revolution of 1956. After that Zoltán Szelesi from Szeged and then Béla
Osváth was appointed. Later János Vígh was mandated.
From 1961 to 1991 János Dömötör - a historian of culture - managed the museum. During
that period – from 1963 to 1998 the archaeologist of the museum was Katalin B. Nagy. In
1963 the centre of the museums of Csongrád county became the Móra Ferenc Museum in
Szeged. The Tornyai János Museum belonged to that county organisation up to 2006.
The new permanent archaeological exhibition – titled “The arts of the Neolithic and
the Brass Age” – opened in 1970 and it was disassembled after 34 years – in 2004. The
scenario was made by Dr. Ottó Trogmayer – the former director of the Csongrád county
museum, and by Katalin B. Nagy – the archaeologist of the Vásárhely museum. The
exhibition was designed by László Boreczky. In the downstage of the exhibition the
2 More about the inheritence of János Tornyai at DÖMÖTÖR 1963.