Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 2. (Budapest, 1974)

Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs en 1972

of the significant Esterházy Treasure, the restoration of wich is also carried out by the eminent experts of the Museum, of the historical exhibitons relating to "European Ceramic Art", "Masterprieces of Metalwork", "Caucasian Rugs", "Old Hungarian Embroideries". Perhaps the most significant are the exhibitions of the Nagytétény Castle Museum, in which masterpieces of Hungarian and foreign furniture from the Gothic period up to the middle of the 19th century have been presented. Intimate small exhibitions, like those showing ivory carvings, Chinese porcelain, stoves and stove tiles have also been arranged here, and have won the approval of both Hungarian and foreign visitors. In keeping with its traditions, the Museum continually organizes series of temporary exhibitions devoted to the work of living artists, in the form of one-man as well as group-shows. These are organized in cooperation with the Board of Applied Arts and the Hungarian Association of Fine and Applied Arts, and have included exhibitions of ceramics, glass, leatherwork, also shows of kitchen vessels, interior decoration and fashions. Through its international connections, the Museum of Applied Arts has organized exhibitions in numerous towns of Europe in the last 10 years or so, among them in Paris, Moscow, Leningrad, London, Dortmund, Belgrade, Zagreb, Bruxelles, Rome, Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg etc. Both the management and the collaborators of the Museum, including art historians, restorers, technical and office workers have done their utmost to contribute to the development and achievements of the Museum since its rebirth in 1948. The directors of the Museum in the same period have been Aladár Dobrovits, Mrs. Piroska Weiner and the present director, dr. Dénes Radocsay. I take this festive opportunity to convey to the management and staff of the Museum, old and new, to those who are present here and to those who have not been able to attend, the appreciation and thanks on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Culture for their untiring efforts, the fruits of which form an integral part of the 100 years old history of the Museum of Applied Arts. This Centenary not only makes us recall the past, but it compels us to think of the future too. At the time when this building was erected, four statues were sufficient to symbolize the activities of the Museum. To-day no one could undertake a similar task. Applied and decorative arts undergo rapid and revolutionary changes, they are most closely connected to our everyday life, and they exhibit immediate reactions to the claims of society. There is hardly a day when important problems of applied art are not being discussed by the papers. Most of these articles are not only concerned with aesthetic considerations, but they are closely tied in with the evolution and changes of our surroundings, of society. The development and spreading of the taste for home decoration, the building of new housing estates, fashions in clothing as well as the evolution of industrial design reflect the efforts of designers and artists, together with the expression of the desires or rather requirements of the man of our present-day society. This is true for mass-produced industrial products, for single objects of art, for objects of public and personal use, all of which embody beauty as well as function, where utility is combined with aesthetic values. As a result of the continuous development of industry, science, technology, and its various processes, the field of utilization of the different materials has expanded to an almost immeasurable extent. Beside 210