Hungarian Heritage Review, 1990 (19. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1990-01-01 / 1. szám
Mihály Munkácsy (1844 - 1900) was the country’s most famous painter in the nineteenth century and one of the world’s most gifted artists at that time. His tremendous success if owed mainly, to his prize-winning oil paintings. At the age of twentysix, in 1870, his painting entitled Death Row (1870) exhibited in the Paris Salon won the French Gold Medal. Years later another of his great compositions, Milton, was awarded another Gold Medal at the Paris Salon. Munkácsy’s subsequent visit to the United States in November and December of 1886 forged numerous ties between him and American intellectuals and philanthropists. Munkácsy was one of the most celebrated painters in America. More than sixty paintings of his were sold in the United States to various private and public collections. Of these paintings, The Pawn Shop is housed in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Milton in the Lenox Library, New York City, while two of his biblical themes: Christ before Pilate (1881) and Calvary (1884) were acquired by John Wanamaker of Philadelphia for the highest prices ever paid in history to an artist up to that time. According to John Wanamaker’s instructions these two Biblical compositions are exhibited every year during the Lenten and Easter seasons in the Grand Court of the huge Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia. Munkácsy’s art was highly esteemed in contemporary opinion. Let us cite two such views on his famous painting Calvary. “This picture is certainly one of the most perfect which have been produced for many a year, combining all the majesty of classic schools with the modern and personal stamp that marks it of the nineteenth century. When one gazes on this picture and hears Munkácsy speak, one realizes the reelings which the contemporaries of Rubens, Murillo or Veronese must have experienced when they conversed with those great masters who were destined to be handed down to the admiration of posterity.” (The Times, London, January 24, 1884). Furthermore, in the March 16, 1885 issue of the New York Times we read the following meditative words: “The Calvary of to-day. over which not only the world of art but the world of fashions, of thought, and of religion is at present wondering, is indeed a marvelous picture. Taking all things into consideration, it is a strange subject to offer in this century of unbelief, of scepticism, and of scoffing. Who has time now to think of the Man of Sorrows? What artist living in Christian England ever dares to offer such scenes to the critical public, and who could imagine such a subject coming from a Paris studio, where even the last rags and shreds of religion are cast scornfully to the winds?” Subsequent to his departure from the United States, Munkácsy was conferred the title of nobility by Emperor Francis Joseph 1 acting as King of Hungary, and was twice recipient of the prestigious Legion of Honor, France’s highest tribute rarely accorded a foreigner. Munkácsy received countless other decorations from various countries of Europe. Munkácsy’s close friend, László Paál (1846- 1879}, is known as one of the best landscape painters of nineteenth-century Europe. He died at the age of thirty-three leaving posterity a legacy of only about seventy paintings. Paál followed Munkácsy to Paris and settled down at nearby Barbizon to paint landscapes there. Géza Mészöly’s (1844-1887) style of representation favored minute details and small canvases depicting the landscapes of Western Hungary (the Dunántúl), the Tisza region, and the Lake Balaton and the Lake Velence, Mészöly’s best known oil painting is the Fishermen’s Cottage at Lake Balaton (1877). Lajos Deák Ébner Í1850 - 1934} studied in Munich and Paris and excelled in depicting village scenes. After returning from Paris, Deák Ebner worked in Budapest and then in Szolnok where he helped reestablish the local artists’ colony. One of his most famous oil paintings is entitled Harvesters Homeward Bound. Sándor Bihari (1856 - 1906) also studied in Paris. Returning home. Bihari followed the same course as Deák Ebner. Bihari’s Before the Justice of Peace and his Sunday Afternoon are his oil paintings most characteristically representative of rural life. László Mednvánszky (1852-1919), also a great landscape painter, learned the academic style of Sainting in Munich and Paris. The first stage of his evelopment was characterized by his rare use of human figures • in his admirably well-composed sceneries (Marshy Landscape, oil painting, etc.). Later he turned to portrait painting and created an impressionistic style of his own. The oil paintings of Pál Szinyei Merse (1845- 1920), however, frequently feature human figures in perfect harmony with the landscape. Szinyei Merse also studied in Munich though its fashionable trend of historical painting failed to inspire him. On the contraiy, Szinyei Merse preferred nature’s beauties over historical canvases. The psychological explanation for his orientation towaras nature was that, his father being a landowner in a beautiful countryside. Szinyei Merse as a young artist spent much of his time outdoors. This is why his masterpiece, Picnic in May (oil painting, 1873). reflects the dazzling colors of nature together with the exuberant atmosphere of a sunny May. This masterfully designed setting and the picnicking human figures form a coherent unity. In the opinion of art critics, this bold initiative as manifested in the vivid coloring and audacious structural orms is a unique solution which had never before been attempted by any artist in this genre. The same artistic harmony can be enjoyed when viewing his other major composition, Woman in Purple (oil painting, 18/4), in wnich the painter’s mother, a figure dressed in purple, blends perfectly with the picturesque background of this masterpiece. Interestingly, the public has from the beginning understood and accepted the bold initiative of Szinyei Merse’s art, while art critics started viewing the innovation favorably only since the turn of the century when French impressionism made an impact upon them. Szinyei Merse as an artist and as a professor of the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts staunchly advocated as ideals progressivism in art and personally assisted the endeavors of the Nagybánya art colony. JANUARY 1990 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 29
