Horváth János Milán szerk.: Horváth János Milán kiállítása (Kaposvár, 2009)

About János Milán Horváth Because of Rippl-Rónai - was the reply to the following question in an interview: What can be the reason for the fact that unlike other similar wishes, the childhood dream of János Milán Horváth concerning painting has not faded with the passing of time. He has remained faithful to this dream, he became a painter inspired by Rippl-Rónai, and the other field of his dual profession can be traced back to this, which means not only has he 'written' pictures, but he interpreted them as well. After all, János Milán Horváth is a painter and art historian at the same time. He has been the curator of numerous exhibitions with a long row of publications behind his back. It can be stated with some simplification but keeping to reality that the spiritual connection between the two fields of his career running simultaneously has been realised by the art of József Rippl-Rónai, of which he is the most renowned researcher as well as one of his spiritual inheritor. János Horváth (He added Milán as a pen-name.) graduated from the Teacher's Training College in Pécs in 1973; he got a degree at the College of Fine Arts in Budapest in 1979. Then he became an art historian at the Museum of Rippl-Rónai in Kaposvár. In the beginning, in the scope of the Museum he had been the director of the Art Gallery of Somogy one of the best known exhibition halls then. He has been the director of the Department of Fine Arts since 1985, and an executive for the branch of learning since 1993; he was an appointed director in 1980 and 1990 for a while. He created the Research Centre and the Collection of Rippl-Rónai that can be visited in its natural environment located in Róma villa (Rome hill), the home of the artist. His activities were appreciated with the Prize of the City of Kaposvár in 1988, the Artistic Award of Somogy County in 1989, and the Gold Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic in 1992. He has been the leader of the Circle of Fine Art in Kaposvár named after János Balázs. He has been the organiser of permanent exhibitions held in commemoration of the four artists from Somogy county: Mihály Zichy (Zala, 1979), Lajos Kunffy (Somogytúr, 1979, renovated in 2006), Aurél Bernáth (Marcali, 1984, closed in 1991), József Rippl-Rónai (Kaposvár 1978, renovated in 1996) as well as the permanent exhibition presenting the collection by Ödön Rippl-Rónai. (Kaposvár, 1991, renovated in 2000) He has shown great concern about the art and research of the legacy of József Rippl-Rónai for three decades, but in fact his field of research is made up of the whole art of Somogy county. Thus, most of his periodic exhibitions and publications are connected to this. In his career as a curator he has taken a prominent part in the development of the collection of the Museum in Kaposvár and its popularization and presentation to the general public. His books published in the last few years include the Working up of the Collection by Ödön Rippl-Rónai (2002), the Presentation of the Life-work of János Balázs (2005) and the Presentation of the Life-work of Lajos Kunffy (2005) as well as the Informative Album about József Rippl-Rónai (2006). He has published remarkable summaries on the fine arts of Somogy county, and a great number of smaller publications in the local media and catalogues.