A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1983-84 (Debrecen, 1985)

Művészettörténet - Bíró Lajos: Fine Arts in Debrecen between the two World-Wars

involved Berki Irma, Vadász Endre, Káplár Miklós, Félegyházy László and Smurák József as members. Between 1931 and 1941 they organised about 20 one-man exhibitions and 7 collective ones. The activity of the members grew out of a small country association. In their individual styles they were quite different: they did not form either an artistic school or a workshop. Yet, they may be characterized all by traditionalism and at the same time by paying attention to the artistic efforts of the century

: they might have sensed the same inspirations which drove European fine arts onto new ways. This fact graded them as one of the most important progressive Hungarian associations of the period. Their progressivity was characterized by the expression of the essence of the historical period by new compositional structures, dynamically summarized forms, boldly heightened or restrained colouring, accented brushwork, that is, by a more dynamical world conception and behaviour appearing through the specific transmission of fine arts. During halfa decade the members of the association, by their artistic achievements, developped a rich network of relations all over the country. The fine arts department of the Ady Society was the only association in Debrecen against provintial academic art, and their collective appearance broke the line of the development, of provintial drawing-teachers' level, of the naturalistic painting represented by the majority of artists in Debrecen. The artist members of the Ady Society contented the taste of an educated civil intelligence with social sensivitity, the life of which they themselves shared. In the next chapter the author analysed the careers the artists of the Ady Society ran in the given period, also their artistic achievements and importance in the fine arts of Debrecen and Hungary. He stressed Medgyessy Ferenc's sculpture of European significance and his relationships with Debrecen; Holló László's expressionistic art, which suggests the relation of nature and man living in the most ancient vital conditions; Félegyházy László's painting, which pays attention to the beauties and joys of sight and changed styles frequently in that period of his career; the activity of Gáborjáni Szabó Kálmán, who made several tours to Rome and can be appreciated as the pioneer in developing modern Hungarian xylography; and the etching activity of Vadász Endre, whose works mixed grotesque with stylization and reality so as to express the problems of the possibilities of the common man between the two wars. Further on the author analysed Senyéi Oláh István's production, which shifts among expressivity, decorativity and stylized naturalism expressing the artist's sovereign Debrecen character; and Káplár Miklós's which searched the optimum possibility between a traditional and a modern stylization aspiring for folkloristic authenticity in the meantime. Going on the author mentioned Berki Irma's painting and Smurák József 's designing activity as well as the expressionistic art of Hrabéczy Ernő, who was not the member of the Ady Society but started his career from Debrecen. In the following chapter the author summed up the activity of an association which was named Ajtósi Dürer Guild, the Circle of Graphic Artists and Collectors, and was active for three years since 1935 on. The organization joined to the new European tendency of collecting the pieces of graphic art and its object was to spread graphic culture in Debrecen in the form of organizing lectures, talks and exhibitions, editing graphic publications and guaranteeing a studio for the artistic members. Outstanding leaders were Nagy József and bérei Soó Rezső. In the end the author surveyed the activity of The Association of Patrons of Art between 1927 and 1944. He stressed the rich exhibition program of the first three years and the gradual decline in number of members and in artistic quality from 1931 on, and the fact that the Debrecen public and official patronage remained loyal to their traditionally naturalistic art further on. Out of its members the author emphasized the tone-painting of Dienes János, who was also a well-known portrait painter in the town, which was based on high professional knowledge and skill; and also Toroczkay Oszvald's artistic organizational work, which was the basis of the fine arts organizations in Debrecen in the two decades. 322