The Art of the Hungarian Secession
As the sphere in which the ideal community could operate, the antique milieu frequently found its way into turn-of-the-century art. In ancient surroundings, countless artists claimed to have discovered a harmonious world, a "paradise on earth". The art nouveau masterpieces János Vaszary produced at this time were clearly part of this domain of subjects and notions, in which he sought answers to the social, philosophical and psychological questions of the age.
The careers of János Vaszary and József Rippl-Rónai in this period were marked by a whole series of works of applied art, the high quality of which stood well alongside their paintings. The Secessionist ceramics kindly loaned to us by the Museum of Applied Arts include examples of the Zsolnay-manufactured plates and goblets designed by Rippl-Rónai in 1897-1898 for the famous dining hall of the Buda Palace of Count Tivadar Andrássy.
Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch moved away from Budapest in 1901 to establish a Tolstoyan principled, art nouveau artists' colony in the town of Gödöllő Works by the artists of Gödöllő are characterised by their blend of Secessionist forms and folk art motifs. In order to create the long-desired, emphatically Hungarian, national style of art, they sought subjects for their works in the legends of Hungarian history, and in the realm of folk tales, myths and ballads. Following the pan-artistic mindset of the age, the output of the colony stretched from architectural complexes, interiors, easel works, murals in churches and public institutions, and statues, through objects of applied art, tapestries and furniture, to stained-glass windows and book illustrations, while the weaving workshop was also an integral part of their operations. The items of furniture made by the architect and applied artist at the Gödöllő colony, Ede Toroczkai Wigand, which are decorated with motifs taken from folk tales, are also on loan at this exhibition from the Museum of Applied Arts.
Lajos Gulácsy was a unique character in Hungarian art, whose autonomous oeuvre, like that of Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka, came about as the result of a resolute and lonely search for his own path. He too was dearly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, but his works were also imbued with references to other periods and styles. Gulácsy's identification with the style and content in his paintings flowed from his deep-felt empathy, which is also shown by the fad that the artist often dressed up in the clothes of bygone eras. Gulácsy's entire career, and even his life, was defined by a yearning for the past, for escape, for retreat from the here and now. His nostalgic approach was shaped by the thirteen years that he spent in Italy, with minor interludes, between 1902 and 1915.
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