Horváth János: Rippl-Rónai József iparművészeti munkássága, az Andrássy-ebédlő (Kaposvár, 2013)
János Horváth: József Rippl-Rónai and the Applied Arts - the Andrássy Dining Room
János Horváth József Rippl-Rónai and the Applied Arts - the Andrássy Dining Room Kaposvár, Rippl-Rónai House, Róma-villa, Visitor Centre 15th August, 2013 "I have always been profoundly affected, both spiritually and physically, by the people around me, their lives and fate, the Zeitgeist, our age. All of these have been inspirational for my artistic activity. Engaged in the stylistic issues of applied arts (designing interiors, exhibition rooms, tapestries, posters and invitation cards), I have always been striving to use the simplest design and narrative, trying to identify with my clients, sometimes even furnishing and taking part in their lives, showing them how to live." Memoirs of József Rippl-Rónai, 1911, Nyugat "L'artappliqué"-applied arts, Paris, 1890s.The term was on its way to becoming significant for those young, ambitious artists who wanted to create the most novel art of their era, an art even more innovative than the Impressionists' vision. Art was searching for its place during the years of industrial and social changes. New ideas and forms, from all branches of art, were emerging. Engaged in a multilateral struggle, the modern artist was antipathetic to the art that met the conservative needs of the mainstream. He or she also despised the dominant scholarly approach along with its channel, the mainstream media, and considered them as the reason why the innovative artist became exposed to misjudgement, mockery, deprivation, illness, and self-destructive loneliness. The Parisian group Les Nabis ("The Prophets"), active from 1888 to 1900, became organised around the "new Art". The members of the group, including József Rippl-Rónai, named Paul Gauguin as their main ideological and technical influence. They wished to exceed the limitations of their studio by relocating it in printing houses and handicraft workshops; they started to design posters, tapestries, vases, sets of furniture, and apartment interiors. The group was supported by Siegfried Bing, the founder of the gallery L'Art Nouveau (1896), which lent its name to the movement. "New Art" meant a new style. Understanding the Zeitgeist and the needs of Western European citizens, Bing encouraged the artists to transcend the boundaries of art by designing articles for personal use. Bing, however, was not the first to promote this idea. John Ruskin (1819-1900) and the Pre-Raphaelites started the Arts and Crafts movement in 1880. They advocated the preservation of old values, the restoration of medieval handicrafts, and the organisation of handicraft workshops. This innovative approach was also seminal to the artists' stylistic quest. William Morris, inspired by the works of Symbolism, Orientalism, and Folk Art, aimed to connect art with life. This sophisticated movement, which flourished in late 19th century England, became popularised in Paris by the members of Les Nabis. Their conduct in decorating bourgeois residences was defined by the desire of an aesthetic unity, a synthesis of the arts. They did not wish to attain high culture; on the contrary, they accepted the fashion of the era.
