Gyergyádesz László, ifj.: Félbeszakadt prófécia Lantos Ferenc zománcművészeti alkotásai 1967-1976 (Kecskemét, 2006)

THE INTERRUPTED PROPHECY

enamel art: "The painter working with enamel continues to search for painterly expression and not to move over to the area of fine smith".1 Lantos has not, therefore, abandoned his own way for the sake of enamel. This genre and technique was a topical moment of his oeuvre albeit a very important one.

The beginning of contemporary Hungarian enamel art had four centres that, in accordance with the technology of enamel, were all linked to places of technical realization, that is to Hungarian factories where enamelling, amongst other things, was done. In those days there were four such places in Hungary, namely in Salgótarján, Kecskemét, Budapest [Budafok] and Bonyhád, respectively.3 4 5 The first Hungarian enamel art workshop, following the model of symposia organized in factories those days, was held in August 1968 in Bonyhád. However, prior to this event, that is important from an art history point of view, several artists experimented with enamel in the Bonyhád Factory of he Enamel Works (Zománcipari Művek]. For instance, Vitus Lőrincz in 1964 but also Lantos himself starting in 1 967. Lantos had a great impact on the Bonyhád symposia. Moreover he was even leading them, so albeit shortly we must deal with these events. Logic dictates, however, that first we outline Lantos's enamel art activities.

Lantos was no beginner when he met the technique of enamel making. Perhaps it is due to this that he was able to carry out his ideas in a fairly short period. From the points of view of form, iconography and methodology, respectively, Lantos was basically done with shaping the two main directions and groups that all the way through characterize the products of his enamel period, not considering now the purely experimental works. However, prior to grouping the works let me quote here Lantos's note: “My work, that certainly is quite diverse, does not build on art periods. That is to say, my attempts to solve problems of various challenges of aid are results of parallel processes".s [pages 7, IS and 17)

3. Source: L. Gyergyádesz jr.: Beginnings of the contemporary Hungarian enamel art, In Hungarian. In: Atelier, V, 2002/3. p. 6. Re Blaise Simon see e.g. L. Gyergyádesz: Blaise Simon. Kecskemét, 2003.

4. Concerning this period see L. Gyergyádesz jr.: The beginnings of contemporary Hungarian enamel art with particular regard to the Kecskemét International Enamel art Workshop in the '60s and the '70s, In Hungarian, In: Múzeumi kutatások Bács-Kiskun megyében 1998. Eds.: I. Romsics and E.Wicker. Kalocsa, 1999. pp. 219-226.

5. F. Lantos: On my works, In Hungarian. In: Lantos Ferenc. Egy életmű margójára. („A Szép aktualitása” III.) Ed.: Més-záros. Budapest, 2002. p. 5.

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