Veszprémi Nóra - Jávor Anna - Advisory - Szücs György szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 2005-2007. 25/10 (MNG Budapest 2008)
STUDIES - Zsuzsa FARKAS: Reproductions in a Sculptor's Estate from the 1870s: Anna Christ's Photographs of Ferenc Kugler's Statues
6. Anna Christ: The Allegory of the Photographer Woman by Ferenc Kugler, 1867. HNG 7. Doctor and Kozmata: The Bust of Gyula Andràssy by Ferenc Kugler, 1871. HNG 8. Kozmata and associate: The Bust of Countess Andràssy by Ferenc Kugler, 1871. HNG from Ötpacsirta utca. (Ills. 4, 6). The emphasis on female features was hardly accidental, few women undertook to learn all aspects of the craft of photography and to operate a studio. We know of many a woman who deftly and skilfully helped her husband run his enterprise, and, after his death, either her or the family took over the management of the shop. Women would usually not put their full names on the backs of the photos, but the Pest public were quick to learn whom the initials stood for. The first woman photographer the press of the day called attention to was Karolina Werner, who managed her studio at 13 Hatvani utca between 1858 and 1861. 17 In 1863, Rozália Büki Fejér set up her own enterprise, and had her own studio built at 12 Soroksári út. 18 Anna Guichard had a short appearance on the photography stage, 19 while Anna Halász managed several shops, and ran one without interruption at 65 Kerepesi út between 1865 and 1900. 20 There were several women photographers working in the country, too, most notably Leopoldina Dohnányi of Nagyszombat (today Trnava in Slovakia), who operated her studio between 1865 and 1880, and Emma Vancza (Mrs Forst) of Miskolc, who had an excellent enterprise at the so-called Dark Gate of the city between 1870 and 1908. Little is known of the life and activities of the first women photographers. As far as the fourteen-year-long career of Anna Christ is concerned, hardly anything appears about her in the press of the day; the reason being that there were over forty photographic studios working in Pest at the time. Neither does the photo collection of the National Museum provide any interesting detail, for it holds but ten perfectly wishy-washy portraits photographed by her. 21 In the Kugler estate, however, there is a most extraordinary photo by Anna Christ, which clearly shows the glass structure of her studio, the wooden gates through which customers wanting to be photographed entered the garden. (111. 3) Obviously, a decorative trade-sign advertised the enterprise. Above the wall surrounding the garden, a lamplighter putting on street lights is seen. 22 The photo is a rarity because few close-up shots showing the special architectural characteristics of photographic studios are extant from the 1860s. 23 We know the designs for and the archival material of Anna Christ's atelier, but there is no space here to dwell on its architectural analysis. Ferenc Kugler submitted his request to the Pest Council Building Committee for a permission to build his sculptural studio on November 3, 1868. 24 Apart from the seasonal studios of József Engel and Miklós Izsó in the period between 1860 and 1870, we have no information on specific studios in Pest. There were three stone-cutter shops built in the city in 1865, and one in 1866, 25 but, naturally, these were commissioned by craftsmen, not sculptors. Kugler's studio was designed by the architect Pál Schusbeck. (111. 5) Fortunately, a little map was added to the plan of the building to show its position in the garden. It is quite clear from this that the inner yard was surrounded by buildings. Anna Christ's studio was near the inner yard, but its entrance was off the beginning of Ötpacsirta utca, and, behind it, a two-storey house rose. The sculptor's studio was in the middle of the larger yard in the back, and its entrance was also off Ötpacsirta utca according to the plan. It had an entrance hall and two rooms, with door-windows opening onto the garden. The council decision ordered the modification of the plan, shifting the building back from the street line by about six feet so that it would have no direct entrance from the street. 26 According to the reasons adduced, a temporary building placed in this way would not disturb aesthetically the overall picture of the area. What we know of Ferenc Kugler's studio is that it was turned into the photographic atelier of Simon Csonka in 1873. The extent to
