Szilasi Ágota, H.: Országos Akvarell Triennálé. P. Szabó Ernő művészettörténész (1952-2018) emlékére (Eger, 2018)
P. Szabó Ernő: Előszó az 50 éves évfordulóját ünneplő egri akvarell tárlathoz
Ernő P. Szabó PREFACE to the Eger Watercolours Exhibition at its 50th Anniversary Painting Experiences-this is how Nóra Juhász, one of the youngest exhibitors titled her work, on which she even put in the characteristic scribbled handwriting of children: My summer experiences. Hajnal Kazai of the same age group depicted a disposable McDonalds cup with its dumbed-down advertisement, while Eszter Metzing offers the viewers an insight into an unforgettable scene of hanging out washing at night-time. I could go on with the list; the three names, the three artworks by themselves show an increased interest among young Hungarian artists in the moments, requisites and scenes of life - often seen as marginal - as if they wish to rebuild the world they live in. Let's be honest, there is nothing extraordinary in this: we ourselves strive for this day by day, being more or less dissatisfied with what has happened around us so far, or, so as not to take the illustrious stranger's position against our environment and fellow-beings, dissatisfied with what we ourselves did in order to change things or save our traditions and values, which are under existential threat, i believe this is the right place to mention this, as even contemporary Hungarian artists have long been trying to revaluate or, to use a trendy expression, reposition the social role and weight of their status and their art - similarly to their peers living in other parts of the world. This aspiration is not so new, though. Half a century ago, when the first Eger National Watercolour Biennial was held in 1968, Professor Lajos Németh said, "for the past years the genre of watercolour has become the Cinderella of our fine art. It has become marginal, almost displaced.” He also added, '"however, watercolour painting has its ways in modern art too, since it is not about the technique, but the approach." Who could tell today what was wrong with watercolour in the era of the 3 Ts cultural policy (tabooed, tolerated, trusted), except for the fact that it was rather unsuitable to depict themes which - although just in the form of recommendations - were still pushed by art policians before major exhibitions. In all ages the art of watercolour has all the more been suitable for grasping reality promptly, recording experiences and expressing spontaneous reflections. However, exactly for this
