Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 10. (Budapest, 1991)

Events 1987-1989

Factory, with some assistance from experts of the Museum of Applied Arts' ceramics department, organized a small exhibition of the factory's products. This ran from July 3 until August 30. The exhibition PICTURE TAPESTRIES FROM THE SEVENTENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES, which was compiled by Emőke László, was the first to be held in the Museum's new hall, which opened on October 16. This hall is intended to present the Museum's famous tapestry collection. In honour of this day, the custodians of the Museum invited the Collegium Musicum Ensemble to give a Baroque music concert at the inaugural ceremony. The catalogue, complemented by sixteen colour plates in a separate folder, was written by Emőke László. The Museum organized a exhibition dealing with the work of Joahcim Szvetnik, who died recently. This was entitled MASTERWORKS OF JOACHIM SZVETNIK, GOLDSMITH AND RESTORER, and opened on October 24. Joachim Szvetnik, who was employed by the Museum of Applied Arts, began his career as a sculptor. He trained as a goldsmith, and became an acclaimed expert in the field of restoration. Dr. András Szilágyi and Éva Békési, together with the restorers of the department of goldsmith's art, selected the most important examples of his work. Most of the objects exhibited were from the Esterházy Collection, which was almost totally destroyed during the siege of Budapest during the Second World War. With great professional dedication, Joachim Szvetnik spent many years restoring those pieces that could be saved. This exhibition of unquestionable masterpieces was an outstanding success-partly due to the fact that it provided an overview of the Esterházy Collection, the treasures of which were little known previously. A video-recording about the secrets, difficulties, and beauty of restoration work was shown during the exhibition in the assembly-room of the Museum. The video recording contained narration by Joachim Szvetnik himself. In December, new exhibitions opened in connection with two competitions. Both were related to Christmas celebrations. MY CHRITMAS TREE was organized by Zsuzsa Gáspár from the Museum's education department. Christmas-related articles from the competition launched by the Museum of Applied Arts, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Ethnographical Museum, and the Design Centre were put on show. Members of the Studio of Young Artists and the fine art department of the Art Fund participated in this competition. Outside the premises of the Museum of Applied Arts, Emese Pásztor organized an exhibition in Sárvár with the title PRINTED TEXTILES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF APPLIED ARTS. This opened on September 1987, and a catalogue was published also. In the Tölgyfa Gallery of the College of Applied Arts, Éva Kiss produced an exhibition commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the interior designer Gyula Kaesz. On the same occasion, a conference was convened in the Museum of Applied Arts, at which art historians and some of his former pupils discussed his work. Researchers employed in the Museum gave expert assistance in organizing the exhibitions KAZINCZY AND HIS AGE and THE ENLIGHTENMENT at the Petőfi Museum of Literature and the Museum of Ethnography respectively. The latter exhibition presented a broad survey of an important period in cultural history, and displayed a very large number of objects. Exhibitions abroad MODERN HUNGARIAN TEXTILES, an outstanding exhibition, was put on in Dortmund. This opened on May 22 and was the work of Éva Forgács and Ka-