Lázár Imre – Nyakas Miklós: A Hajdúsági Nemzetközi Művésztelep húsz éve 1964-1983 / Hajdúsági Közlemények 12. (Hajdúböszörmény, 1983)

Tartalom

Twenty of the "Hajdúsági" International Fine Arts Workshop Hajdúböszörmény, where you can find the "Hajdúsági" International Fine Arts Workshop, is one of the most peculiar towns of the Great Hungarian Plain. It has had a great historical past as it was the center of the had-been Hajdú county. Because of this fact it was independent of any superior manorial authority, was free as regards its nobility and therefore it was able to follow the path of the peasants' free development. Thus the bourgeois revolution had changes of a different character in this town than in the rest of the country. Doubtless, it accelerated the differentiation into classes but a considerable number of industrial proletariat was not brought about (though craftsmanship as compared to that of the neighbouring settlements was well developed here). The political life of the town was determined by the opposition of the Kossuth party and a vivid cultural life was in development around the turn of the century. The town-dwellers began to be interested in fine arts following the activities of Jenő Károly who was a teacher of drawing in the secondary school. The era of the counter-revolution (1919-1944) did not make any good to the development of the town and to the case of cultural life. Through this period of time it was the government party which lead the town politically and the only considerable opposition was the Kisgazda-party (though from the 1930's on the social democrats and the middle-class left came into activisation and, what is more, illegal communist activities took place as well). The agrarian reform following the liberation of the town (October 22, 1944) did not bring so radical changes here as it did in the rest of the country and the real solution of the problems caused by social tensions came in 1960 together with the socialist reorganization of agriculture. Collectivisation of agriculture was followed half a decade later by an intensive industrialization which in turn did change the social structure of the town (though industrial workers are still now in many ways bound to agriculture). Hajdúböszörmény, with its modern industry and well developed agriculture, is the second largest town of Hajdú-Bihar county. Fine arts in this town have their traditions. One of the predecessors of today's "Hajdúsági" International Fine Arts Workshop is with all probability the case when Miklós Káplár and Zoltán Maghy, urged by Tibor Boromissza, undertook to record the Hortobágy. The members of the painters' team, organized by Boromissza, oreated paintings of good quality. The influence of Miklós Káplár with his decorative and expressive landscapes is exceptionally important. The chain between these activities and today's workshop is represented by Zoltán Maghy, who is an active member of the "Hajdúsági" International Fine Arts Workshop at present. The 1960's saw a great prosperity of after-school adult education throughout Hungary. It was in 1961, too, that a painters' circle came into existence with Ferenc Bíró as its leader. (F. Bíró was a teacher of drawing and painter himself.) This circle had favourable results in competitions over the whole of the country, too. The issue of bringing about an artists' workshop in Hajdúböszörmény goes back to November, 1963. It was thought at this time that any artist recommended by the town's or the county's council 43