Modern Hungarian Art 1892-1919

A FABULOUS book, including more than 1,000 reproductions of Hungarian paintings from the turn of the last century, has been published just in time for the Christmas season.

The comprehensive album is the richest illustrated such edition yet published in Hungary.

It aims at providing a full picture of Hungarian painting between 1892 and 1919, with all the information the uninitiated might need to get familiar with what Hungarian artists ventured to 100 years ago.

"This is an unabriged collection of fine art, said Tamás Kieselbach, gallery owner and the mastermind behind the four-year long project which culminated in the two-volume album.

"We sent through all the collections of all the museums, checked private collections, sent to attics and cellars, traveled to Transylvania and to Slovakia, obtained slides from all over the world to find the most exciting and beautiful Hungarian works of art, some of which has never previously been reproduced, "Kieselbach said.

The first volume will be followed by a second featuring even more illustrations, with 1,500 pictures, to be published at he beginning of January.
Apart form the obvious choices such as Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka, Gyula Derkovits, József Rippl-Rónai, Noémi Ferenczi and Béla Czóbel, the hefty large format book contains excellent reproductions of talented artists that the most of us have never heard about.

The album guides the reader through the works of different artists, schools, styles and attitudes by allowing the reader to contemplate the faithfully reproduced images.

Apart from the record number of reproductions, Modern Hungarian Painting is also a novelty concerning the brevity of essays on the history of art.
"Our renowned contributors were kindly asdked to keep their essays concise but informative enough so that Hungarian fine art of the turn of the last century could become understandable just by reading this book,"Kieselbach said.

The two volumes are published in Huingarian and English, opening up this rich era of Hungarian art to the foreign public as well.

Eszter Balázs
Style Editor