György Ráth Mansion, 12 Városligeti fasor

Source: fortepan.hu

György Ráth (1828–1905) was the first director general of the Museum of Applied Arts. Thanks to his art collection, he was considered one of the greatest private collectors of his day. When setting up his collection, Ráth – just like many of his contemporaries – was inspired by interior design.

György Ráth, the first director general of the Museum of Applied Arts and the "namesake" of the mansion
Source: Wikipedia

Marble plaque in memory of György Ráth and his widow in the museum
Source: imm.hu

The story of György Ráth Mansion didn’t start with the Ráth family, since the commissioner and the first owner was not the first director general of the Museum of Applied Arts, but Ignác Wechselmann build master, who was famous for his charitable nature. The mansion was most likely built and designed by Emil Unger. The Wechselmann family wanted it to be a summer house, and it only became a permanent private residence under the ownership of its “namesake” György Ráth, who bought the villa in Városligeti fasor in 1901, which he and his wife furnished with artworks. To better suite this purpose, the building was transformed by Géza Györgyi, the staircase railing was made by Gyula Jungfer, an excellent wrought-iron artist at the turn of the century, and the staircase and the furnishings of the hall were made by an outstanding personality of Hungarian Art Nouveau, Pál Horti.

 
Archived photos of the mansion
Source: imm.hu

Ráth left all his worldly goods to his wife, Gizella Melcsiczky, who carried out his wish that his art collection be given to the Museum of Applied Arts after his death, with the stipulation that they would form “the National Hungarian György Ráth Museum constituting an auxiliary part of the Museum of Applied Arts, which is inalienable and must be maintained together with its collection”. As a result, the National Ráth György Museum was established in the villa from Ráth's collection. In November 1906, the new attraction in the capital was opened to members of the press in a solemn ceremony, and on 8 January 1907 it was visited by the ruler himself, Franz Joseph I.

   
Archived photos of the mansion
Source: imm.hu

In early 1954 the building of the Ráth Museum was taken over by the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts; the China exhibition was opened and for a while the building bore the name China Museum. The artworks were shared out among different museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hungarian National Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts and the Museum of Applied Arts. After the change of the political system the museum regained its original name but housed oriental exhibitions until its closure in 2014. György Ráth’s memory was kept alive only by a memorial room furnished in the reconstructed dining room.

    
Source: timbart.hu, baratsagklub.hu, imm.hu

In the autumn of 2018 the villa opened its doors with the permanent exhibition Art Nouveau – a Hungarian Perspective, displaying the finest selection of the Museum of Applied Arts’ Art Nouveau collection, making it available for the public and at the same time treasuring the memory of the first director of the Museum, György Ráth.

Source: imm.hu

The unique interior of the mansion shows three defining genres of Art Nouveau: the British, the Austrian and the French Art Nouveau. The exhibition shows the works of Hungarian masters, the emphasis on the Transylvanian and folk art roots, the effects of the Hungarian national past. The almost 600 art pieces here represent all branches of the applied arts, using Gallé and Tiffany glasses, Otto Wagner furniture, Zsolnay ceramics and Lalique jewelry.

        
Source: imm.hu

Most of the works are from public collections, especially from the Museum of Applied Arts, but some privately owned pieces can also be seen. The paintings of the gallery, the objects on the hall and the staircase and the furniture in the upstairs dining room have been parts of the György Ráth collection.

Source: pestbuda.hu

Sources: imm.hu, muemlekvadasz.hu, pestbuda.hu