H. Bathó Edit – Horváth László – Kaposvári Gyöngyi – Tárnoki Judit – Vadász István szerk.: Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 15. (2006)

ISTVÁN SZABÓ: WHAT MADE SZOLNOK KNOWN NATIONWIDE

the national association regarded them as equal in the new spirit of democracy. Raising the country and stopping the monopoly of the capital was an important part of the government's policy in cultural areas as well. After the strengthening of the one-party system, around 1949-50, some crucial directives appeared; first in literature then in other arts, too. In the area of fine arts it culminated in the forced rule of socialist realism. But the artists, whether they lived in Budapest or in Szolnok, tried to find their way amidst the rigid borders. One outstanding example of this is how Aurél Bernáth, who was in position, wrestled between the requirements of "proletcult" and his own artistic call. Most artists were compelled to surrender to opportunism, which, in later more liberal years, they tried to forget. In the various periods of the Szolnok artists' colony, the portrayal of landscape and rural life had always played an important role. The figurative representation had not been strange to most of them, if we follow the oeuvre of the artists living in the colony from its foundation till the end of the 1940s. So nothing gave reason for setting up a violent break between the previous periods and the demanded new style. However, in the mid 50s, they determined who were progressive and, therefore, to be appreciated in the line of realistic art. At the same time, they abandoned the values that had come into existence before the war. They found the man who they could use. Jenő Benedek was a good painter; his previous pictures validated that. And he had all the abilities for naturalist representation that the party resolutions demanded; he was able to paint with photographic closeness. In the columns of the local paper, one can follow how the party directives appeared almost daily. As it was customary, every other month they visited the colony, made interviews with the artists, and made them give statements. The artists tried to meet the requirements with more or less enthusiasm. That was the period of "hurry optimism", when only those could succeed who accepted thematic guiding principles of socialist realism, and others were excluded. In this not quite clear situation, the Szolnok artists' colony reached the 50

th anniversary of its foundation. The traditionalist and quality selection of the first post-war exhibition was far behind. In 1952, Lajos Végvári published the first comprehensive work about the antecedents and the first 50 years of the colony. He, according to the required directives, almost wiped out the Szolnok colony with timed demagogism. Apparently, he tried to find examples of "socialist realism" in the past and present, and threw away everything that didn't suit his preconception. This book showed up all the characteristic mis-statements of the party-controlled view of history. Altering some historic facts of the foundation, he put Szolnok sharply opposite of the artists' colony of Nagybánya, and in doing so, he forced open wounds inflicted by Trianon. This lie made the bed of the stereotype negative judgement of the Horthy era. That's where the exclusion of August von Pettenkopfen and Aba-Novák and the degradation of Tibor Pólya started; he made fun of the social events that the colony, which was struggling for survival, organised. As a positive example, he pointed out Jenő Benedek, who was the most capable of propagating the communist regime. Strangely enough, it was this positive judgement deprived Benedek of the correct evaluation of his works. When even Szabad Művészet (Free Art) challenged the photographic closeness of Benedek's works, Végvári regarded Szolnok as a socialist realist centre. For this reason many who had been part of the colony turned their back to it abjuring the past. The critical judgement of these years left its mark on those who only started to work at the colony in the late 50's, early 60s. We can even say, that it determined the place of the colony in the 19

l and 20

l fine arts for good. From Végvári'

s book onwards, the colony had no acknowledgement. The few years after the war formed a short period, but all in all the artistic life of the colony had a negative effect. In 1956, Mihály Patay died, and Benedek, János P. Bak, Sándor Botos headed for Budapest, leaving Szolnok behind. Progress did not come until the mid-50s, when the other wing of the colony was renovated, and the makeshift student hostel of the technical university moved out. At the end of the 50s, young freshly graduated artists, alongside with Ferenc Chiovini, who represented continuance, received their studios, and their work marked the activity of the Szolnok artists' colony until the end of the 70s. 295