Ibolya Nagy, Galeria de artă a păpușilor / Doll's art gallery,

all images as on Google Streetview

On the facade of the house with the balcony it is stated in capital letters that the Doll's Art Gallery is located here. Below this English mention there are the indications in smaller letters: Galeria Papasilor and Babamuzeum, which is respectively Romanian and Polish for Doll Gallery and Doll Museum.

The doll's art gallery, that includes the house with the balcony and the one next to it on the left, is located in the center of the city of Târgu Secuiesc, a municipality with some 16.000 inhabitants (2021), situated in the center of Romania.

this image and the next eight as on Google Streetview, 
submitted by various photographers

Life and works 

This museum is a project undertaken by Ibolya Nagy, who is married to Tilhamer Nagy, a couple living in the city of Târgu Secuiesc.

At some point in her life she came into possession of six porcelain dolls, dressed in gowns from earlier times. 

She was so delighted with them that she passionately started collecting more of these dolls, which got a place in the house where she lived with her husband.

 

When her collection had grown to 175 dolls, she came up with the idea to exhibit them in a doll gallery, an idea that became reality in 2010. In 2011 there was a first exposition, and in 2017 the gallery opened permanently to the public.

Ibolya Nagy was able to realize her dream thanks to her husband who was the heir of a historical house in the center of Târgu Secuiesc, built in 1910 by his great-grandfather, who was a renowned merchant at the time. 

The communist government that came to power in Romania after World War II had confiscated the house, but Tilhamer Nagy managed to regain ownership in 2008.

Arrangement of the dolls in the gallery

Currently, the collection comprises some 1500 dolls, and until now, every year some 100 to 200 dolls have been added to the collection..   .

Because the gallery is housed in what traditionally is a residential building, the dolls are distributed over the various rooms and spaces that the building comprises.

The Porcelain Room is a place of honor for the very first six dolls with which Nagy Iboly started her collection.

Then there is the Green Room, where the oldest dolls in the collection are exhibited. 

These are dolls from the period between the 1920s and the year 1960. The oldest doll, dating from 1927, depicts a Chinese woman.

The so-called Style Room is about dolls that portray all kinds of princes and princesses, mostly related to (European) royal houses and often going back to times long past.

Then there is the Nostalgia Room, which brings back memories of visitors' youth and the dolls they played with, but also their  early school years and the children's books that shaped their lives during their younger years.

Finally, there is a space designated as the Great Hall.

This area has shelves along the walls with -among other items-  dolls depicting celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Kate Middleton and Prince William. Many of these dolls come from Germany and France.

The Great Hall is also referred to as the Olga Gallery, with the name Olga being a tribute to Nagy Ibolya's mother-in-law..

Documentation

* Article on the Anapedia-Travel website with an extensive series of images.

* Article (2017) by Mihaela Aionesei in newspaper Mesagerul de Covasna 

* Article (November 2024) by Gina Artenie on the website Covasna 45, also richly illustrated

Video\

* Video (YouTube, 2024, 7'36") by Maszol

Ibolaya Nagy

Doll's Art Gallery

4 Independenței Street

Târgu Secuiesc, Covasca County, Transylvania, Romania

visitors welcome
Google Streetview