Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 20. (Budapest, 2001)

Zsuzsa GONDA: Walter Crane's Visit to Budapest in the Context of Museums' Acquisitions

been abundantly represented. Furthermore, the scanty English material representing the works of only three artists (David Cox, Paul Sandby, Charles Holmes) also consisted exclusively of landscapes. It seems to be a fair guess that one of the considerations governing Térey's choice was that he should continue to represent the genre. On the other hand, the two other acquisitions from 1900 had more to do with Walter Crane's career as a practitioner of the applied arts. The date 1891 can be seen on the design for a stained glass window which was sold for 600 crowns under the title Christ Accuses (sic) Peter (picture 4).

21 In the 1900 catalogue, the work appears together with a scene entitled Christ Resurrects the Widow's Son. Crane makes no mention of the design in his memoirs, and it is not known where the window was meant to be if indeed it was ever executed. Térey's fourth acquisition was catalogued under the title Ornaments Designed for Schoolroom Walls, a work for which he had paid 240 crowns.

22 In a field surrounded by female figures allegorically representing the seasons, the rural activities of ploughing, sowing, harvesting and hay-making are depicted. A central place was accorded to the idea of education through the arts in Crane's philosophy. In his book Ideals of Art (1905), he gave expression to the idea that schools should be decorated with the prominent figures of history and the deeds of the heroes of legend. At the 4

th exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, his work was represented by a design depicting the seasons and meant for the decoration of schools, and it is perhaps to this that the Budapest drawing is related. Although his plans for ornamenting schools were never put into practice, Crane used the motif of the seasons allegorically represented by female figures in other genres, for example on his ornamental tiles.

23 A representative piece of the 1900 exhibition, the design for a mosaic executed in Lord Leighton's house, found its way to the Museum of Fine Arts wit a slight detour. Catalogued as The Siren and the Ship, the work was purchased by the National Museum for 1,200 crowns in 1900 (picture 5).

24 Although the works of the old masters had been relocated from the Gallery of the National Museum to the National Picture Gallery as early as the 1870s, the museum acquired a few more modern pieces by foreign masters for a while. Exhibited in the National Museum between 1903 and 1905, Crane's mosaic design was transferred into the proprietorship of the National Picture Gallery in 1905 as part of a larger body of artwork.

25 The middle medallion of the more than twometre long frieze contains a ship, while the ones on the sides feature sirens plucking their harps.

26 A similar decorative system can be observed on the other sections of the frieze running around the walls of the "Arab Hall" (picture 6). In 1877, Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), President of the Royal Academy from 1878, commissioned architect George Aitchison to add an extension to his studiohome where his collection of Oriental ceramics and tiles would be housed. What resulted of the enterprise was the "Arab Hall", with which the architect created a modified version, one adapted to conditions prevailing in England, of the reception hall of a 12

th century palace in Palermo (La Zisa, Palace of Delights), which was an object of admiration among his contemporaries. Together with the additions, the arrangement of the tiles covering the walls was the work of the famous ceramic artist William De Morgan.

27 Crane sent the design of the frieze to Leighton for his approval. This is how he later recalled their cooperation: "I remember he sent me a photograph of the mosaic frieze at La Zisa, wishing me to adopt a similar arrangement - so far as the circles on a gold ground went; but I did not realize till many years afterwards, when I visited Palermo, how closely the plan and proportion of the old palace hall had been followed."

28 Despite the narrow constraints he had to work under, Crane created a rich arabesque with lavish vegetation and animal figures filling the spaces between the medallions. Some of the ornamental motifs used here, such as his peacocks, cockatoos and deer, can be seen later on Crane's tapestries. His first mosaic design