Csengeriné Szabó Éva (szerk.): A Makói József Attila Múzeum Évkönyve 1. (Makó, 2017)

Halmágyi Pál: Munkácsy és Pulitzer – Egy kapcsolat és egy festmény története

HALMÁGYI PÁL

Munkácsy és Pulitzer - Egy kapcsolat és egy festmény története

Munkácsy and Pulitzer. The history of a relationship and a painting

After their European success, Munkácsy’s pictures amazed the American public too. Joseph Pulitzer participated in organizing the overseas introduction of his painting titled Christ before Pilate. The relationship between the artist living in Paris and the journalist-publisher from New York started with the installation of the Statue of Liberty. Joseph Pulitzer played a decisive role in the realization of the monument. Simultaneously with the inauguration of the statue, Christ before Pilate arrived at the harbour. The Hungarians in New York formed a reception committee with the presidency of Joseph Pulitzer. The media tycoon's wife immediately ordered a painting from the artist. Munkácsy began to prepare the portrait of Mrs. Pulitzer by making sketches and taking photographs, based on which he painted the picture in his Paris atelier. By 1889 the full-length portrait of Mrs. Pulitzer’s was completed. The painting was on display at an exhibition in Budapest. The matter of Mrs. Puliter’s portrait was last mentioned in a correspondence related to the Millennium Exhibition in December 1895. The story has been vague ever since. Did the painting get back to America or remained in Europe? Only one thing is certain. Mihály Munkácsy's painting of Kate Davis Pulitzer is today in a Hungarian private collection.

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