Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 28. (Budapest, 2012)
Magdolna ZIMÁNYI (GYÖRGYI): The Hungarian Room Designed by Dénes Györgyi at the University of Pittsburgh
ceiling in tobacco brown oak veneer, the wood grain also carefully chosen. The armchairs carved of oak, the teacher's platform and the three guest chairs in the window recess are adorned with incised tulip and sunflower motifs, (fig. 4) Along the back wall of the room on a slight elevation a set of five built-in chairs can be found for five students. These and the seats of the teachers and guests are upholstered in blue leather. One of the most accentuated elements of the overall sight, the carved entrance door, is adorned with Hungarian folk motifs: tulips, pomegranate leaves, sunflowers and wreaths of cornflowers. In the middle of the door the inscription "19 Hungary 38, Magyarország " is carved. (Actually, the room was dedicated in 1939.) On the side of the corridor, in the gothic door frame the Hungarian coat of arms is carved in stone flanked by two angels. The plaster models of the carvings were made in Budapest on the basis of Dénes Györgyi's drawings and the carving was done in America. Several of the wood carvers were of Hungarian birth. On the frieze beneath the ceiling, the first two lines of the Hungarian anthem can be read in Hungarian. The seventy square panels of the coffered ceiling are embellished with turquoise blue, green and white folk motifs - birds, tulips, sunflowers - on a bright light red ground. They were painted by Antal Diósy in Budapest. No English description fails to note that the red background reminds one of paprika, and several authors also refer to chains of red paprika adorning Hungarian peasant cottages. 2 6 The embossed metal sheet coat of arms of the university of Buda founded by King Sigismund with the inscription " University of Buda 1388" 2 7 was placed above the blackboard. It was designed by Béla Ohmann. 2 8 The built-in showcase in the wall on the corridor side is also flanked by painted panels like the ceiling coffers. In the glass cabinet objects of Hungarian decorative and folk arts were shown: porcelain 5. Door of the room (Pittsburgh University Library Archives ) 29
