Gopcsa Katalin: A Sümegi Művésztelep (1919-1931) és kortárs képzőművészek paletta kiállítása (Veszprém, 2006)

Modern palette paintings Partly on the occasion of a 1998 exhibition of palette paintings of the Sümeg artists' colony, hosted by the Dezső Laczkó Museum in Veszprém, our museum commissioned contemporary artists to create "palette paintings" in a similar fashion. The opening ceremony of the exhibition provided a splendid occasion to engage the works as well as the artists. For the vernissage, which turned out quite a success, we set up a studio corner in a suitable spot of the exhibition hall: there were clean palettes of different shapes, brushes and paints awaiting the artists, who painted on these blank wooden boards while an enthused audience was looking on. Some opted instead to take their palettes home and cast their characteristic motifs, picture fragments, or even a narrative event, on the inviting empty surface in the intimate recesses of their home studios, using their own painting tools. The newly created works also demonstrate the extent of change in the artists' attitudes: from a unique perspective, these "pseudo-palette works" recount a different artistic view, different sets of methods, and as a result, they express a different world altogether. Realism and abstraction are equally present in these compositions. Evoking the stimulating community atmosphere of artists' colonies, the spectacular painting event attracted wide attention: those who were present have continued to this day to contribute new palettes to the collection, including, for example, a piece by Róbert Weinberger, which Róbert Swierkiewicz has recendy brought back with him from Paris for inclusion in our collection. Since 2001, the town of Felsőőrs has regularly hosted artists' colonies, which are nowadays called symposia because professional meetings and informal discussions are more and more frequently part of the event. The first participants of the Felsőőrs symposium, which takes place in a setting with a Mediterranean atmosphere, were Finnish and Hungarian artists. Several of the Finnish painters signed their palettes in 2002, as used to be the custom earlier in painters' colonies. (It is worth adding that the colony at Felsőőrs has been functioning steadily ever since and has been expanded to receive, among others, artists from Transylvania, so this year, looking for a new site, the artists arranged to meet here.) Even today there are painters and other artists who use their palettes exclusively for a particular work of art. As a result, their palettes reflect the range of colours used, and with die blotches of paint and the date and title occasionally written on them, they serve as "pictorial documents" of the given work. A prime example would be Gizella Péterfys hand-imprinted palette acquired into our collection this year.