Veszprémi Nóra - Jávor Anna - Advisory - Szücs György szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 2005-2007. 25/10 (MNG Budapest 2008)
NEW ACQUISITIONS, NEW RESULTS - Éva BICSKEI: On a Journal Illustration by Bertalan Székely
Hungarian art history, namely periodical illustration, its relatively unknown chain of production from a pencil or ink and wash drawing to its transference to the wood block, engraving and appearance, and the participation of prominent artists in this process. In 1860, a committee was set up for the erection of a statue in a public square for Sándor Petőfi, the martyr poet of the 1848^49 Revolution and War of Independence. The unfavourable political situation and the protracted fundraising campaign put implementation off the agenda until the beginning of the 1870s. 2 It was Izsó, a highly-rated Hungarian sculptor of the 19 th century, who was commissioned to realize the plan. He submitted his first models at the end of 1872, just before the 50 th anniversary of the birth of Petőfi. 3 Although the Vasárnapi Újság - one of the leading illustrated weeklies of the time - could report no unveiling, it could befittingly commemorate the anniversary by reproducing a bronzed plaster model of the statue in the version the committee and Izsó unanimously regarded as "the most successful one". 4 The wood engraving appeared in the first, special issue of the Vasárnapi Újság in 1873, being one of the few full-page illustrations the magazine published, suitable for decorating walls, too. (111. 3) It was engraved by a talented xylographer, Gusztáv Morelli ( 18481909) on the basis of a drawing indispensable for reproduction. This drawing (or its exact copy) is the very piece the National Gallery has newly acquired, the drawing and the wood engraving being identical in regard to their composition, point of view, size, placing of light spots, bold outlines and tracing, and even in such minor details as drapery and locks of hair. Contrary to regular custom, the name of the draughtsman was not published; probably because it was not a documentary illustration, but a work promoting the cult of the poet. Nevertheless, the author of the drawing can be identified by studying the process of production in the Vasárnapi Újság, coupled with a stylistic analysis of previous reproductions after the works of Izsó published in the weekly. As soon as Izsó began to attract attention in Hungarian art life, the editors of Vasárnapi Újság sought to promote his work through quality reproductions. They excelled themselves particularly in publishing the models Izsó submitted for public competitions. The drawings for these wood engravings were made exclusively by Bertalan Székely. 5 (Only the works of Izsó had the privilege of being drawn by Székely; a notable exception was a plaster cast by Károly Alexy [1823-1880], because it depicted the martyr prime-minister Lajos Batthyány. 6 ) Like many of his colleagues, the young Székely started to make a living by producing sketches for illustrated periodicals in the early 1860s. 7 Soon he made a name as an excellent, professional draughtsman at home and abroad, and he would continue to produce various works for the press throughout his career. 8 Most of his drawings for illustrated periodicals are in pencil and pen, but he did turn out a number of large-scale drawings in ink and wash for wood engravings 9 concentrating on full figures needing artistic modelling. Székely developed a particular device on these drawings for reproductions as well: he marked them with "spots of ink" to indicate the tonal values to be reproduced in the final wood engraving. It was also customary for Székely to accompany his studies of full-length figures with drawings repeating certain details - especially hands and legs - with minor variations. These features appear in the drawing of the model for 3. The statue of Petőfi according to the model by Miklós Izsó Wood engraving by Gusztáv Morelli based on the drawing by Bertalan Székely. Vasárnapi Újság, 1873, no. 1, p. 5 the Petőfi statue as well. Moreover, they are accompanied by the steadily curving line so particular to Székely's tracing, and incomparable with the jagged, overlapping lines of the drawings in the Izsó estate. On the basis of the aforementioned characteristics, there are four other works in the Izsó estate related to the publication of models of the Petőfi statue that can be attributed to Székely. 10 Wood engraving is often regarded as a procedure that does away with the characteristic features of the original drawings due to the division of labour in the printing process. 19 th-century illustrated journals, however, sought to preserve the originality of sketches especially in the case of outstanding artists or draughtsmen by shortcuts in the chain of production, for example by drawing or transmitting sketches directly on the wood. They successfully employed this technique in the case of Székely's works as well: one can still detect his bold tracing in the reproductions of Izsó's models. Even Székely's idea about presenting statue models in illustrated periodicals can be typified - since these features were not characteristic of wood engravings after other artists' drawings. Such are, for example: the plastic formation of anatomically correct, but idealized figures; the careful choice of point of view as the figures appear not frontally, but
