PHOTOGRAPHS:

The catalogue contains besides photo's of Ferenc Hopp and family around 60 photo's of mostly Asia[nearly all made in 1903:China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia. Some photo's of Africa[Camaroun, Liberia, Congo] and the Orient[Egypt, Syria, Palestine]

CONTENT:

The name of Ferenc Hopp (1833-1919), a wealthy optician, patron of the arts, globe-trotter and art collector, has become known far and wide through the Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts in Budapest. His career, remarkable in the present age, was not particularly unusual in the rapidly modernizing Hungary of the 19th century. But despite his fame, his multifarious activities are little known. For example, few are aware that he was a passionate photographer, and that, as the owner of the optical firm Calderoni and Co., he contributed substantially to the development of photography in Hungary. During his trips round the world he took a large number of photographs, building them up into a collection. In his will he left the overwhelming majority of these to the Hungarian Geographical Society. This part of his estate perished: along with the Society's archive was destroyed in 1944, by a direct hit from a bomb during the siege of Budapest. Fortunately, Ferenc Hopp's art collection, photographs and documents have survived in the villa housing the Museum.

Ferenc Hopp made 5 round-the world trips: