The Antal–Lusztig Collection

The Antal-Lusztig Collection, that contains more than 3500 artworks, was established by Sámuel Lusztig, a merchant of Derecske, who started to purchase the works of his contemporaries in the 1920s.  As these disappeared during the war, Lusztig began to rebuild his collection after the holocaust.  

Péter Antal, the grandson of Sámuel Lusztig, firstly continued the collection in the spirit of his grandfather but at age of 17 he already went on his own way and was mainly searching for the representatives of progressive Hungarian art. He purchased contemporary works primarily from studios but as a result of his evolving relationships and friendships he was often donated paintings or even complete inheritances. In the last few decades he has purchased both modern and contemporary pieces, however the latter ones seem to become more significant.
The development of 20th Century Hungarian fine art can be traced through the enormous Antal-Lusztig Collection. The collection ranges from Pál Szinyei Merse through Csontváry, Gulácsy, Károly Ferenczy, Margit Anna, Imre Ámos and Lili Országh up to our days, to the works of Balázs Kicsiny and Hajnal Német. It includes paintings, drawings, sculptures and exciting installations of more than 300 Hungarian artists. Works from the members of The Eight ( the paintings of Károly Kernstock, Dezső Czigány, Bertalan Pór, Lajos Tihanyi and ödön Márffy), the Szentendre School (represented by the works of Imre Ámos, Margit Anna, Endre Bálint and Dezső Korniss) and the European School (through the pieces of Endre Bálint, Lajos Kassák, József Egri, Dezső Bokros Birman and Lili Országh) appear with a particular emphasis in the collection.
  
Péter Antal, the owner of the collection, has deposited a significant part of the works to the city of Debrecen for ten years. MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Arts was entrusted by the City Council to handle the material.