Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 24. (Budapest, 2006)

Magdolna LICHNER: The reception of electroplates in Hungary I. - Electroplates in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts 1873-1884

45 The Count Ödön (Edmund) Zichy Sr. (Vereskeő line of descent; 1811-1894) was a major figure of economic and political life of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and promoted the expansion of Hungarian railway. He participated in the foundation of several insurance and financial companies in Budapest and Vienna. In 1842 he made an Oriental journey with the Counts Iván Forray and Atúr Batthyány. He became a member of the Upper House in 1861. In 1863 he organised the first exhibition of applied art in Vienna; later he was elected the president of the Kunstwerein. In 1867 he gained distinction in the course of organising the coronation of Francis Joseph the king of Hungary. He was a founder of the Vienna Oriental Museum and an art collector. On his person and the role he played in the artistic public life of the Monarchy, see: Magyar Országgyűlési Almanach 1892-97, Felsőház, pp. 115-116.; The Count Jenő Zichy (18371906), the son of Ödön Zichy Sr. was a member of parliament belonging to the Deák party; later, he became liberal. He was elected the president of the National Industrial Association in 1881. He and Károly Ráth played a crucial role in the establishment of the Hungarian Royal Museum of Technology and Industry. On behalf of Ágoston Trefort he organised the lower-grade industrial education in several counties and was one of the major organisers of the general exhibition in 1885 in Budapest. As an Orientalist, he led three Oriental expeditions. In 1901 he established a museum (consisting of departments of art, archaeology, ethnography and applied arts) in Budapest; after his death it came into the possession of the capital. Presently, parts of the collection are housed in the gallery of the Kiscell Castle Museum of the Budapest Museum of History and in the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Easteran Asiatic Arts. See: Magyar Országgyűlési Almanach 1892-97. pp. 350-51.; L.K. /Károly, Lyka /: A Zichy Múzeum. Új idők 1901. 1. pp.408^109; Artúr. Elek: A főváros Zichy Múzeuma. Magyar Művészet 1925. p. 184. 4

" Zichy Edmund: Die Länder des Ostens auf der Pariser Ausstellung. 1878. 47 He was proposed for the award as soon as in 1867 for the Milton Shield and other works he produced for the Elkington company. He would have been awarded if the English had not protested; the English government prohibited accepting French award Finally, he was given the award for the Bunyan Shield in 1878 although its subject matter was less well-known among the French (in spite of the fact that its literary protoptype was the The Pilgrimage of the Soul' [Pèlerinage d'une âme] of a French Cistercian monk, Guillaume de Degueleville. L. Morel 1903 p. 19. and pp. 25-26. 41 Mihály Zichy

's brother, Antal Zichy was a member of the so-called Committee of the Hundred, (see note 17.). The fact that in 1874 the painter donated a fan to the museum makes it probable that he saw the exhibition of applied arts in the National Museum. Inventories 1872-1875 (no page numbers); the first donation on the list of those given in 1874 is a parchment fan decorated in colours, a donation from Mihály Zichy. The laconic description does not render its identification possible; nevertheless, we may assume that it may have been similar to the 1866-67 plans purchased by the Prince of Wales (presently displayed at the permanent exhibition of the Sandringham Palace). The sources and the picture is published in: Katalin Geller: Zichy Mihály művei az angol királynő gyűjteményében, in Zichy Mihály. Ed. Enikő Róka and István Csicsery-Rónay, Budapest, 2001. (hereinafter: Zichy 2001 ) pp. 54—63. A letter which he wrote to Károly Kammermayer, the mayor of Budapest is most telling. He considers the establishment of another, 'fairly large museum of industry' useless (that is, the Museum of Technology and Industry, established in 1883; Károly Ráth received a ministerial commission for the establishment of the museum in 1881). In his opinion, craftsmen who studied and started to make their living abroad can learn more from the seeing the shop-windows of the boulevards in Paris than in museums and at lectures in Hungary. The reason is not the lack of qualified Hungarian craftsmen but that of Hungarian customers: An extract from a letter by M. Zichy (5 January 1881), Budapest Archives, Budapest Tanácsi iratok, files No. VII. 7668/1874, an appendix to file No. 456/874. 4

" In June and August, 1874, Zichy was in Hungary. On 28 June in Budapest he participated in a celebration organised in his honour. In 1878. during the world exhibition he was in Paris. Berkovits Ilona: Zichy Mihály baráti köre Párizsban. Művészettörténeti Értesítő 1956. p. 1. and p. 12. He visited England in 1871 and 1874 on the invitation of the Prince of Wales; on his journey and his works produced in England see: Geller 2001. In Paris, Zichy was a member of the artists' association 'Cercle de l'Union Artistique' (often referred to as 'Mirliton'). Gustav Doré used to visit the exhibitions of the association - Sophie Zichy 's letter (Paris, 11 November 1877). Zichy Museum. Berkovits 1956. p. 3. Contemporary Hungarian critics had an inclination to compare Zichy 's illustrations to those of Doré, both in terms of conceptual basis and attraction to the genre painting. Emese Révész „Arany - Zichy". Zichy Mihály illusztrációi Arany János balladáihoz. In: Zichy 2001. pp. 64-96. The conceptual analogy is particularly striking in the case of the Faust illustrations ( 1874-1878). The detailed discussion of this analogy requires an essay; here, for lack of space, we can but make a laconic reference to it. 51 M. G. A. Sala also expressed appreciation for the parallel between the works of the two artists in his opening speech at a reception in the English Royal Academy in 1875, where Doré was invited. Morel 1903 pp. 23-24. 53 On Doré's London exhibition and his works (among others, on the Bible published in London in 1867, that is, one year after the Paris edition) see: David Malan: Gustave Doré. Adrift on dreams of splendor. St-Louis, 1995. pp. 72-103 and pp. 126-177. (hereinafter: Malan 1995) The Elkington company wanted to repeat the success achieved at earlier world exhibitions, this is why it financed MorelLadeuil's three-year work process. The investment proved to be a success. On the success of the Milton Shield in London and Paris, and on the gold medal awarded to the Elkington Company, see: Leon Morel (1903^1) p. 18. Catalogue of The Art Journal, special edition for the world