The exhibit halls of the Art Museum can be found on the third floor of the Palace of Culture of Tîrgu-Mureș. Currently, the gallery hosts a permanent exhibition entitled “Lights and shadows - Colouristic trends in the Hungarian painting between 1810 – 1920” which gathers many of the artworks belonging to the museum”™s main fund, established in 1913. The artistic tradition of Tîrgu-Mureș began with the establishment of an Art School in 1907. In 1911, it merged with the School of Crafts into a new teaching institution which was more a professional school than an art school. In 1913, after the inauguration of the Palace of Culture, the Municipal Art Gallery came into being as a result of the donation of 68 artworks by the Art Museum of Budapest. The building of the Palace of Culture as home of the city”™s cultural institutions was part of a more complex plan of the Austrian Empire to consolidate its position in Transylvania through cultural initiatives of this kind. Cultural clubs were built in several urban centres of Transylvania. This favourable context was fructified by local authorities led by Mayor Bernády György, a remarkable personality, a cultivated man and a supporter of fine arts. The initial fund, made up of artworks representative for Hungarian art at the turn of the 20th century, was enhanced by the purchase of 15 paintings. The first custodian of the Art Gallery was Panczel Emeric, followed by Robert Demeter and Hajos Karoly. During the First World War, the art collection of Tîrgu-Mureș was taken to Budapest for safe keeping. After the end of the war and the instauration of the Romanian administration, measures were taken to purchase Romanian artworks. In 1925, works by Gheorghe Petrașcu, Theodorescu Sion, Emil Cornea, Mac Constantinescu, Dumitru Ghiață and others were added to the collection. The following years, works by several other important Romanian artists, such as Theodor Pallady, Ion Jalea, Iosif Iser, Nicolae Grigorescu, Corneliu Medrea, Marius Bunescu, Oscar Han were also included in the collection. Between 1932 and 1940 painter Aurel Ciupe, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Cluj, acted as custodian of the Art Gallery. His first measures were to systematize the collection, draw up a complete catalogue and reorganize the exhibition by grouping the artworks by art schools and trends. With the support of Mayor Emil Dandea, Aurel Ciupe continued to purchase new works, so that in 1939 the number of artworks had amounted to 146, of which approximately 100 were exhibited. A turning point in the artistic life of Tîrgu-Mureș was the setting up in 1932 of Aurel Ciupe's Free Course in Fine Arts. It was an independent school, financed by the town hall, which functioned in the Palace of Culture. The course had a duration of 5 years, and the curricula was similar to that of the state-run fine arts academies. Due to the high quality of education, works by three of the school”™s students were accepted at the Official Art Salon of Bucharest just three years after its establishment. After the 1940 Diktat of Vienna, changes in the town's administration affected the art gallery. Aurel Ciupe was replaced by Bordi Andras who held this position until 1971. In 1949 the name and status of the art gallery changed to Art Museum. The instauration of the communist regime entailed the implementation of a new cultural policy which meant that all forms of art were subordinated to party propaganda. The communists exerted control over museum activities in Tîrgu-Mureș, as well as over other museums in the country. Nevertheless, the donations from the state and collectors or artists raised the number of artworks belonging to the museum to 2000 by 1989. Nowadays the collection includes 2300 pieces of sculpture, painting, ceramics, graphic and textile art, belonging to some of the most important Romanian and Hungarian artists: Lotz Karoly, Munkacsy Mihaly, Wagner Sandor, Paal Laszlo, Theodor Aman, Nicolae Grigorescu, ștefan Luchian, Nicolae Toniza, Corneliu Baba, Ion Andreescu etc. Several long-term exhibitions were organized by the museum, such as the one in 1980 entitled “Exhibition of Romanian modern and contemporary art” or the current one, set up in 2003. In addition to the exhibition in the Palace of Culture, the Art Museum also arranged two galleries dedicated to important local painters. The “Nagy Imre” gallery was established in 1958 and includes the painter's most representative works. It was first installed in the Teleki building, and later moved to another space, on 1 Koteles Samuel street. The other one is dedicated to master Ion Vlasiu and was opened in 1986. It includes paintings, sculptures and graphic works depicting places the artist loved the most, as well as significant moments of national history. Bibliography: Aura L. Popa, Un reper al vieții spirituale mureșene in vol. Tîrgu-Mureș, oraș al artelor, published by the Tîrgu-Mureș City Hall in cooperation with the "Vatra" review, pp.93-110. Traina Dușa, Muzeul de Artă în vol. Pagini de istorie, artă și cultură, Vol II, Editura Ansid, Tîrgu-Mureș, 2002, pp. 151-173.