Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 28. (Budapest, 2012)

Acquisitions between 2006 and 2010

tryside. The typical ornamental motif of the technically virtuosic, finely embossed piece made after Pál Horti's design returns on several other objects: a similar but smaller vase, a cigarette holder and a round little table. The small table was on display at the furniture exhibition of Hungarian Art Nouveau curated by Zsolt Somogyi in the Museum of Applied Arts in 2009. Purchased from a private collection with support from the National Cultural Fund, 2009 Inv. no. 2009.172 4.3 Plaquette Géza Maróti (Rintel), Budapest, 1905 Bronze, partly gilded, cast H.: 25.2 cm w.: 12.3 cm The exact attribution of the large plaquette bought from a private collector in 2009 was facilitated by the inscription ("TO KAMILL FITTLER, WITH AFFECTION -THE STEINDL GUILD, 16 Dec. 1905") and the signature (the initials MRG). The plaquette adorned with a laurel wreath belongs to the Museum of Applied Arts' pool of collected works not only on account of its creator's oeuvre and its genre, which unquestionably belonged to decorative arts at the turn of the century, but also because of its theme. An associate of the Museum of Applied Arts and editor of the periodical Magyar Iparművészet [Hungarian Decorative Arts] Kamill Fittler (1853-1910) was a prominent personage of the art life of his age. He was a member of the Steindl Guild rallying the adherents and admirers of Imre Steindl (as a society of artists and lay people patronizing art), who held their informal regular gatherings in their headquarters of two rooms in today's Semmelweis street, attended by noted artists. There are very few Art Nouveau plaques in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts, and only one by Géza Maróti (18751941), although over twenty of his plaques are reproduced in Medaillen- und Plakettenkunst in Ungarn by Lajos Huszár and Béla Procopius (Budapest, 1932). This piece is not among them. Purchased from a private collector in Budapest, 2009 Inv. no. 2009.114 125