Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 25. (Budapest, 2007)
Zsolt SOMOGYI: Pál Horti's Late Works in the United States of America
wrought-iron gate which led to the inner space.5 Embellished with four towers, the installation excellently proved Horti’s technical expertise and his affinity with wood. The furniture and fittings of the modern dining-room he exhibited - these were made from walnut by the Simay firm - also proved these.6 Walls covered with dark blue fabric and a carpet embellished with rose and leaf motifs completed the interior. Horti’s ‘building’ was a success among the visitors to the exposition, and an American entrepreneur wanted to buy its towers even while it was under construction. Likewise it was Horti who organised the exhibition of Hungarian fine art in the Palace of Fine Arts Building; he worked in the Mines and Metallurgy Building also. The St. Louis World’s Fair brought many instances of acknowledgment, and the Applied Arts Association was awarded a gold medal as the publisher of Magyar Iparművészet (‘Hungarian Applied Arts’), which was the joint periodical of the Museum of Applied Arts and the Association. For his designs, Horti received a silver medal, and for his ‘painted designs and furniture and fittings for the fine arts group’ a diploma of honour and a gold medal.7 His success can be better appreciated if we bear in mind that Horti’s budget was 20,000 dollars, a small sum in comparison with the world exposition’s preliminary budget of 25 million dollars. Horti did not return to Hungary when the exposition closed. Now preserved in the National Széchényi Library in Budapest, letters and picture-postcards written by him give an outline picture of his time in America and of his ‘journey round the world’.8 The sources have been examined by László Jurecskó, primarily from the standpoint of the history of ideas. Jurecskó analyses the foundations of Horti’s research into Hungarian prehistory and the findings he came up with.9 In the documents, we find only a few references to the artist’s work in the applied arts. Horti’s earliest surviving American letter was written from St. Louis on 8 December 1904 to József Mihalik. According to it, the artist planned to remain abroad for two years, of which one would be in America, where he wished to spend time studying ‘Indian handicrafts, Aztec art treasures and equipment used in furniture factories’’ (author’s italics). On 25 April 1905, he wrote from New York to Elek K. Lippich, describing himself on the envelope as an ‘architect decorator’. He wrote: T had to earn some money; I’ve been designing furniture, carpets and pianos.’ From a letter of 8 June 1905 likewise written to the ministerial counsellor, we know that he had been in Chicago and at the Great Lakes, while in a communication to Mihalik dated 8 December that year he mentions time spent in Canada and in Washington. In this last letter he writes the following: ‘Fortunately, I’m still able to earn money here’, a reference to new orders. In a fifteen-page letter dated 9 April 1906, he gave an account of his activities to Lippich: T consider it an obligation to give you an account of the work I have performed here, and of my studies.’ The last mentioned covered ethnography, history of religion, linguistics, geography, and geology. In addition, Horti read works by Zsófia Torma, József Huszka and Ede Somogyi; he also investigated Indian cultures and artefacts. With regard to his work in the applied arts, he wrote: ‘Eve been in New York exactly a year and during this time I have made a 520 drawings and designs. Of these the detailed drawings number 176, not counting the designs for the ministerial room. The others have all been made here. A good number of them have been for furniture - called Hungarian furniture - and have been 106
