Kertész Róbert - V. Szász József - Zsolnay László szerk.: Szolnoki művésztelep 1902-2002 - 100 éves a szolnoki művésztelep (2001)

The Artist's Colony of Szolnok 1902-2002

The Artists' Colony of Szolnok 1902-2002 Prelude The role of Szolnok in the artistic life of Hungary has been significant since the middle of the 19th century. It owes its discovery to an Austrian painter, August von Pettenkofen, who visited Hungary during the 1848-49 War of Independence as a war-painter of Austrian troops. He recorded several important episodes of the War of Independence in a number of drawings and lithographs. In the 19th century the fancy to exotic was in fashion, people thought here they could find a number of details of a lot of colourful curiosities of their imagined East worth painting. It was a piece of Orient, the colourful coil of the market, the boundlessness of the Puszta, the magic of nomadic life. Pettenkofen's stays in Szolnok were only one or two months in length but they were quite fecund. For thirty years, between 1851 and 1881 he visited the town almost every year. Year after year he sought and found new themes. One of his favourite themes was painting gypsies. He usually drew and painted the great weekly fairs from a hidden corner of the market. These buoyantly depict the fruit and vegetables and pottery sellers, the peasants coming on wagons, and we can easily identify some landmarks of our present town. His pictures were whole-heartedly bought both in Hungary and abroad for their colourful variety and their oriental taste. His pieces of art emerged from those of his contemporaries because of his excellent talent and thorough efficiency. Owing to his experiences in Paris, his later works gained some more picturesque expression. In his oeuvre we can observe a definite development towards the phraseology of impressionism. He became a painter of high renown by depicting the Hungarian Puszta, and foreigners became familiar with the much-talked-about Hungarian "world of outlaws" partly through his paintings. As a consequence of his fame, influence and attraction, many Austrian and Hungarian painters began to visit Szolnok. His Austrian followers mainly came from his circle of friends {Johann Gualbert Raffalt, Leopold Carl Müller, Otto von Thoren, Heinrich Lang, Tina Blau). The major figures of the Hungarian art evolving and invigorating after the middle of the 19th century — in accordance with the spirit of their age — started to visit the great European art capitals to study the modern styles of the age and to find a place for themselves in European art. The destinations of many Hungarian artists were Munich, Vienna and Paris. It was there where Hungarian artists, who were wishing to become familiar with the art of the west, first met the works of Szolnok themes by Pettenkofen and his circle. It was neither the first nor the last time that foreigners discovered the values of Hungary. In the wake of Austrian and German painters, Szolnok was visited by a number of artists, who had been looking for success only abroad. In the middle of the 1870s Pettenkofen's fame and success attracted several Hungarian artists to Szolnok; such as Lajos Deák-Ébner, who had belonged to Munkácsy's circle in Paris, Gyula Aggházy, Sándor Bihari, and also Pál Böhm, László Mednyánszky and Artúr Tölgyessy. Among one of the earliest explorers of Szolnok we count Pál Böhm, who had previously lived and worked in Munich. He was really interested in the colourful life of the Great Hungarian Plain. He adored nature, it was this that made hime leave his workroom and go and paint in the open sunny air. He often came back to Hungary and — supposedly on Pettenkofen's influence — once he visited Szolnok. He gladly painted in the castle, where he made many sketches. He finished his paintings with scrupulous care. After the 80s he never came back to Hungary but his themes remained folkloristic Hungarian ones until he died. Alongside with Pál Böhm, Gyula Aggházy also painted in Szolnok. He had been working in Paris with Munkácsy, who had made a strong influence on him. After his visit to Paris, Aggházy came to Szolnok and the sunshine of the Plain had a refreshing effect on his previously rather dark colours. He did not stay here for long, but the period he spent here made a decisive impact on his art. Szolnok played a great role in the art of Lajos Deák-Ébner. He first visited the town in 1857. The 139