Szilasi Ágota, H.: Víz - fény-szín-tér. Stílusvariációk egy technikára. Egri Országos Akvarell Biennálé 1968-2004 a Dobó István Vármúzeum kortárs akvarell gyűjteménye (Eger, 2006)
understatement, softness, serenity, the nostalgic lyricism, the meditative spirituality... complement the stronger, more expressive, tormented, suppressed, emotional tensions, the manifestions of an imperfect society or an emotional condition, the grotesque criticisms of society or the artists' depictions of their own personal mythologies, all can be found in the watercolour. So what does this breaking of all the technical, aesthetic and stylistic conventions actually mean? This will be the next big dilemma facing the next biennial. Indeed, it is „such an important question and one which is likely to result in a major conflict of interests ... and one which will be battled out at the Eger exhibition series in the years to come." (TiborWehner) As a way of showing the work of the previous thirty-eight years, the collection belonging to the István Dobó Castle Museum proved ideal for representative exhibitions which have taken place over the last few years. At the request of the Hotel Kampinski Gallery the museum was able to show its collection of watercolours to Budapest's art-loving public between 10th December 1998 and 15th February 1999, an event at which the high quality of collection was appreciated for the first time. This was followed by several invitations from abroad. In 1999-2000 forty works went on a tour of Finland (Helsinki and Kemi) and Estonia (Tartu) where they showed not only what the collection had to offer, but the course Hungarian watercolour painting had been taking over the previous thirty years. In 2001, thanks to support from the Philip Morris, who owned tobacco factories in both towns involved, a selection of paintings from the Eger collection went on show in Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic, while in 2002 the museum received an invitation from Nantes which led to thirty-six biennial watercolours being exhibited there. Once again the paintings' presence in France transcended the Eger event, providing instead an account of Hungarian watercolour painting and an introduction to its practitioners. A major retrospective was held between 1st December 2003 and 19th February 2004 at Eger Castle's episcopal palace entitled „What would William Leighton Leitch say?" which gave visitors the opportunity to see the finest work in the collection, particularly those purchased with the support of the National Cultural Foundation. The reference to the rather obscure Scottish watercolourist was due to his 22
