Permanent Collection

Originally from Hungary, Gabor Nemeth escaped to the United States in 1956 and became an artist and accomplished art restorer in Los Angeles. Over his career, he amassed a collection of original works from Flemish and Dutch painters in the 16th and 17th century, partly as a consequence of his restoration projects.

By 1970, Nemeth had settled in nearby Two Inlets with his wife Edith and had planned to donate his collection the University of St. Johns in Collegeville. Upon seeing the incredible response of the community to the 1977 exhibition, the Nemeth’s decided to turn the collection over to the newly formed museum in Park Rapids, where they reside to this day.

These were not ‘master works’ but paintings from those who studied directly under the tutelage of masters such as Hieronymus Bosch, Rembrandt, Rubens, and El Greco. All art was contemporary at some point in history and these forty+ works form a key link to the influential art movements of the late Renaissance, as they are contemporary copies of original masters that hang in locations like the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the Prado in Madrid, the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, and others.

These canvases form the core of NAC’s permanent collection and were last displayed in Park Rapids for the NAC’s fortieth anniversary in 2017. A major portion of the collection was on display in the fall of 2019 at ArtStart in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.