Miskolc Gallery - Petró House
The Szalay Collection has been on display at the exhibition venue known as Petró House since 1998!
More information
Since September 2008, the NAGY KUNSZT Contemporary Art Study Museum has been operating on the upper floor alongside the exhibition, offering thematic museum education sessions for students linked to exhibitions. From September 2010, the ground floor has housed the newly established Art Library and Lajos Szalay Research Centre, created by merging the art book collections of the József Attila Library and the Miskolc Gallery.
A little history:
At the end of 19th-century Miskolc, there stood a single-storey building opposite a mill by the Szinva Stream, which is now known as Petró House. Its earlier history is uncertain, partly due to its location on the edge of the town. The first archival records refer only to the history of the plot, with the first mention of a house on the site linked to Béla Kádár, a retired military officer.
The building visible today was constructed in 1927 and later became the property of the renowned doctor Sándor Petró (1907–1976). A telephone directory from 1943 already lists him as the owner of the building, where he operated a nationally recognised, modern private practice. This practice provided the financial foundation for his art collecting activities.
Sándor Petró's father was a printer, and he was also related to László Petró, the owner of the "bookbinding and ruling" workshop at 7 Városháztér. He inherited his love of graphics from his printer father, and under the influence of Andor Leszih, the director of what is now the Herman Ottó Museum, his interest turned towards painting. He collected local history works, as well as 19th-century and modern Hungarian art, and his legacy also included a rich collection of miniatures, silverware, and carpets, which, after his death in 1976, was entrusted to the care of the city and the Herman Ottó Museum.
The fate of the residential building that came into the city's ownership was only resolved more than a decade later. In 1988, the idea emerged that the building should serve a museum purpose. To this end, the building was transformed from a single-storey structure into a two-storey building with an attic, based on the designs of architect Pál Krisztik. The iron gate on the street was replaced with a glass entrance gate, creating a vestibule and reception hall. The interior design was carried out by József Viszlay. The first exhibition was opened in the newly rebuilt building in 1992.
