Governor of Hungary's Central Bank Visits Washington, Celebrates FOTO Exhibition

Ambassador of Hungary András Simonyi hosted a reception in honor of the exhibition "FOTO: Modernity in Central-Europe, 1918-1945", which has recently opened in the National Gallery of Art and is sponsored by the Central Bank of Hungary. The Governor of the Central Bank, András Simor, traveled to Washington especially for this occasion.

 

 

Director of the National Gallery of Art Earl A. Powell III and Ambassador András Simonyi entertaining the guests

 

 

The exhibition showcases the work of approximately 100 photographers from Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Poland from the time of the interwar period and World War II. Hungary is represented by works of such outstanding artists as László Moholy-Nagy, André Kertész, József Pécsi, Károly Escher and Kata Kálmán.

 

 

Director of the National Gallery of Art Earl A. Powell III, Ambassador András Simonyi, Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary András Simor, and Czech Ambassador Petr Kolar

 

 

Dr. Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen

 

 

The Governor of the Central Bank told guests that it was a pleasure for him to support this project initiated by his predecessor and to be able to witness its success now. "I'm glad that the Central Bank could contribute to the promotion of Hungary's culture through this," he said. Host of the reception Ambassador Simonyi added that the opening of the exhibition was the culmination of tireless efforts over many years, and the success is the result of close cooperation among the National Gallery, six Embassies, and Hungary's Central Bank. 'We are proud that by way of this exhibition we can show Americans the great treasures created by Czech, Slovak, German, Polish, Austrian, and Hungarian cultures," Ambassador Simonyi added. The Director of the National Gallery of Art, Earl A. Powell III, thanked the Central Bank, and Hungary in general, for having made this exclusive exhibition possible, which is traveling to New York and Milwaukee after Washington, and is going to be on display next year in Edinburgh, Scotland as well.

 

 

Ambassador András Simonyi, former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, and Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary András Simor

 

 

Guests at the reception honoring FOTO had the chance to listen to a presentation by Curator of the exhibition Matthew Witkovsky and Curator of the related film series Sonja Simonyi. A room in the Ambassador's residence was transformed for this special occasion into a "dark room" by the Embassy staff, where guests could view how photos had been developed before the spread of digital technology. Invitees were also shown sample photos from the exhibition and photos of Budapest taken during the 1920s and 1930s on two screens.

 

 

Ambassador Simonyi and András Simor in the "dark room"

 

 

Czech Cultural Attaché Vilma Anyzova and Curator of the FOTO film series Sonja Simonyi

 

 

Curator Matthew Witkovsky holding his multimedia presentation

 

 

Many of the Washingtonian political, economic, and cultural scene were present at the event, including Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Ford and Bush Sr.; the current and immediate past Presidents of the Washington National Opera Kenneth Feinberg and Michael Sonnenreich, respectively; founder of the Katzen Arts Center Cyrus Katzen and its Director, Jack Rasmussen; Randall Kroszner, Member of the Board of the Federal Reserve; former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Esther Coopersmith; Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Daniel S. Sullivan; Executive Director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Sara Bloomfield; New York-based Hungarian photographer Tamás Révész; ambassadors of the Czech Republic and Slovakia; the officials of the National Gallery, representatives of the American and Hungarian media.

 

 

Director of the National Gallery of Art Earl A. Powell III, Ambassador András Simonyi, Governor of the Central Bank András Simor, and Curator Matthew Witkovsky

 

 

The National Gallery of Art Team: Special Events Officer Maria Tousimis, Director Earl A. Powell III, Senior Corporate Associate Jeanette Beers, and Senior Publicist Anabeth Guthrie with Zoltán Fehér (middle)the Embassy's Chief Creative Officer

 

 

The Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary, András Simor, met with Randall Kroszner, Member of the Board of the Federal Reserve; Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services; Clay Lowely, Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury; and Robert F. Martin, chief economist of the Council for Economic Advisers.