Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 11. (Budapest, 1991)

RENNER Zsuzsanna: Baktay Ervin, mint művészettörténész és muzeológus

ZSUZSANNA RENNER ERVIN BAKTAY CURATOR AND ART HISTORIAN Ervin Baktay was born in Dunaharaszti, in 1890. He studied painting, first as Ferenczy's pupil at the Academy of Arts and later at Simon Hollósy's school of painting in Munich. He became more and more attracted to Indian culture; he began to publish translations of Indian literary works and his own books on Indian literature and philosophy. Between the two world wars he worked as a freelance writer. Between 1926 and 1929 he stayed in India; most of his books written after 1930 were inspired by his experiences there. He followed Alexander Csorna de Kőrös

's way to Ladakh and collected data about the latter's life. After returning home, Baktay was appointed editor of the journal of the Geographical Society. In 1933, he was awarded a doctor's title at the Tisza István University of Debrecen. From 1946 to 1959 he was curator of the Indian collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts in Budapest. He died in 1963. Some of his most important books: Rabindranath Tagore: Man, Artist and Philosopher (Rabindranath Tagore: Az ember, a művész és a bölcs). Budapest, 1922; Wanderer in Distant Lands. Alexander Csorna de Kőrös in India and Tibet (Messzeségek vándora. Körösi Csorna Sándor Indiában és Tibetben). Budapest, 1934; Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Law (Szanátana Dharma, az örök törvény). Budapest, 1936; Victorious Yoga. The Doctrine of Knowledge and Self-Control (A diadalmas jóga. A megismerés és önuralom tana). Budapest, 1942; India. Past and Present, Religions, Life, Cities, Sceneries and Art Works of India (India. India múltja és jelene, vallásai, népélete, városai, tájai és műalkotásai). Budapest, 1931, 1941, 1942; Art of India in a Historical and Cultural Setting from Prehistoric Times to the Twentieth Centruy (India művészete a történelem és a művelődés keretében az őskortól a XX. századig). Budapest, 1958, 1963, 1981. For a complete bibliography of Baktay's rich oeuvre see Géza Bethlenfalvy: Enchanted by India. Ervin Baktay (1890—1963). Life and Works. Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre, New Delhi, 1990. pp. 47—51. Without doubt, Ervin Baktay was the greatest authority and most inspired mediator of Indian art in Hungary. To understand how he became one we must remember that he himself started as an artist: the fact that he had attended Simon Hollósy's painting school determined once for all his attitude to the arts and his way of looking at works of art although his career as an artist ended later on. His approach to art works was not that of an ordinary spectator but that of the artist. His descriptions were animated by personal experience; he believed, however, that such experience could only be archieved through the simultaneous presence of intuition and intellectual understanding. He held that the role of intellectual approach was to pave the way to true experience. Accordingly, Baktay's love of learning did not fall behind his inborn sensibility. He became deeply familiar with all fields of Indian life and acquired a profound knowledge about the different aspects of the age-old history of Indian culture and civilization. In most cases, it is experience gained by the intellectual and less the instinctive approach that can be transmitted by the averege art historian. Baktay was capable of much more than