Őriné Nagy Cecília (szerk.): A népművészet a 19-20. század fordulójának művészetében és a gödöllői művésztelepen (Gödöllői Múzeumi Füzetek 8. Gödöllői Városi Múzeum, 2006)

Folk Art as Reflected in the Art at the Turn of the 19,h and 20th Centuries and in the Art Colony of Gödöllő. Abstracts in English / Angol nyelvű összefoglalók

212 Abstracts in English 212 Krisztina SEDLMAYR ethnographer, Hungarian National Museum FOLK ART IN THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF TOWN PEOPLE The application of folk art in applied arts is one of the favourite subjects amply investigated in the ethnographic studies of recent years. In prominence is the activity of the art colony of Gödöllő, but the interpretation of the Hungarian secessionism and "art deco" raises the question, time and again, of the artists' relationship to folk art. Ethnology has successfully tackled the problem of "descending cultural assets" at the very start of its history, but we know by far less to what extent folk art creations were present in the civilian milieu. I propose to delineate in my study the borders of this topic not very easy to grasp. Firstly, I am trying to find out and identify what were the most important points of contact between the rural and civilian world around the turn of the century. The following list is rather subjective and far from being exhaustive: the maids coming from villages and definitely settling down in towns who were carriers of folk culture; sojourns in the villages of civilian families during the summer holiday; popular documentary ethnographic literature describing the villagers' life, post cards representing "rustic fancy wear" — the enumeration can certainly be continued. The sources of the subject matter are in this case the contemporary descriptions, the works of literary fiction; an exceptionally voluminous collection of trousseaus and the rich collections of the Hungarian National Museum. These sources can be helpful in determining the rustic origin of certain designs or decorative elements in middle class town flats, or of some objects in the household or again of pieces of garment of the well-to-do town people. At the turn of the century, these elements were not characteristic in the stately spaces, in the dining rooms or in the salons of the town homes. On the other hand, summer houses would sooner be furnished by works of the village joiner, potter or with embroidery. The enormous needs in canvas of a middle class town household were satisfied partly by homespun cloth acquired in the villages. Rural pottery and articles made of wood and wicker were also used for the storage of victuals or for certain operations in the kitchen. Finally, a few characteristic pieces of garment can be observed in the clothing of the well-to-do town people. The "scarified" men's waistcoats and the women's blouses from Kalotaszeg further, the so called "tea aprons" (a small apron without an upper part) were popular. The neat child shirts embroidered with cross stitches (also called "írásos") were of relatively frequent occurrence. Embroidery for the use of the town people has been made in great quantities also in Mezőkövesd: felt bags and piano-covers decorated with needlework, embroidered fancy cushions for decorative purposes are spectacular representatives of folk art.