Veszprémi Nóra - Jávor Anna - Advisory - Szücs György szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 2005-2007. 25/10 (MNG Budapest 2008)

STUDIES - Ágnes FELFÖLDI: Béla Fónagy and the Belvedere Salon (1921-24)

The works of this period are mostly known from reproductions, the search for their whereabouts is in progress {Szentendre, 1923).

77 Rudolf Diener-Dénes (1889-1956) had associated with the avant-gardist artists during the war, participating at the 1916 and 1917 shows of The Sevens and the group exhibition of Kassák's MA circle in 1918. Later he developed an attractive colourful painterly style, blending the plein air traditions of Nagybánya with techniques of French impressionism. From his material shown at the Belvedere, the St. Roche Chapel now in the Budapest Historical Museum and the privately owned Self-Portrait have been identified.

78 Following the exhibition, DienerDénes spent a long period in Paris; nevertheless, he often participated at exhibitions in Hungary. András (Dugó) Szenes had a one-man show at the Belvedere in the April of 1924. Apart from painting, he was involved in making tapestries. In his critique, Marius Rabinovszky grasped the most powerful aspect of the artist's genius that proved to create lasting value in his lifetime: "András Szenes is a born caricaturist, moreover the type of caricaturist more optimistic, more easygoing, more delighted in life. His larger compositions are mostly caricatures, though the suggestiveness of his grotesqueness seems to loose its force with the increase of size. If the tragedy of H. Daumier was the want of large-scale tasks, the opposite is true of Szenes: large scale is to his detriment. Apart from the depth of his outlook, his technical sensibility would also predispose him for graphic work."

79 Szenes, as a KUT member, exhibited regularly in Hungary until 1931, when he moved to France. Fleeing Nazism, he went to the United States, and settled 12. Béla Czóbel: In the Studio. 1922. HNG there for good. As Andre Dugo, he published and illustrated several children's books.

80 The Belvedere Salon arranged two group shows for its former exhibitors; the first one was held to close the season in May 1923, the other as a season opener in October 1924; however, no exhibition followed. It was only select, professional journals that reported of the wind-up of the Salon.

81 By way of summary, it may be said that the institution fulfilled a stop-gap role in the beginning of the 1920s; and its experiences and achievements were to be very much be relied on by the New Society of Artists (KUT) especially in its first period after its foundation in 1924. In other words, the work of the Belvedere Salon can be seen as a precursor to and a basis of the KUT.

82 NOTES The author wishes to thank György Szűcs for his kind and invaluable help in preparing this paper. 1 The first 28 exhibitions of the gallery were held in the mezzanine at 11/b Váczi utca. These rooms had been used temporarily as the editorial offices of Lajos Kassák's magazine MA. 2 A full chronological list of the exhibitions of the gallery is appended to the essay. 3 The births register of the Szabadka Jewish religious community, 1868-80. 4 Tones, Gusztáv. Útravaló: pályamű-értékelések a szabadkai főgimnáziumban 1885 és 1918 között. (Életjel miniatűrök, no. 37) Szabadka: Munkásegyetem, 1981. Apart from the poet Pál Jámbor, Gusztáv Tones played a conspicuous role in instilling Hungarian national consciousness in pupils. Modern physical education was taught by the similarly famous Lajos Vennes. 5 Unfortunately, none of the competition pieces, only their evaluations have been preserved; nor are other related documents extant. 6 Szigorlatok jegyzökönyvei (Examination minutes in law), year 1896, p. 629, ELTE (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest) Archives. 7 The birth register of the Szabadka Jewish Religious Community, 1868-80. Above the rubric on his birth, the following is inscribed: "His surname is changed to'Fonagy'by Interior Ministry Order no. 18352 of February 19, 1900." 8 Elek, Artúr. "Fónagy Béla." In: Magyar Művészet 11.10 (1935) pp. 308-320. 9 Fónagy, Béla. "Menzel Adolf." In: Művészet 4.2 (1905) pp. 114-118; Idem. "Meunier." In: Művészet 4.4 (1905) pp. 231 -238. 10 Fónagy, Béla. "Bihari Sándor." In: Művészet 5.6 (1906) pp. 353-365. 11 Minisztériumi iratanyagok (Ministries material), Hungarian National Archives. 12 The seat of the Musem of Society (Budapest, 12 Mária-Valéria utca, District V) and its records were destroyed during the siege of Budapest in World War II. The records related to the period of the Ministry of Commerce in the National Archives were also destroyed partly during the war, partly as a result of burning the building of the National Archives during the 1956 revolution. 13 Menyhért Szántó (1860-1945), agricultural author. He was appointed to organize the Social (later Public Health) Museum in 1906. He dealt with mostly agricultural and public health issues in his copious writings. 14 Called Társadalmi Múzeum Értesítője between 1909 and 1911, Társadalmi Múzeum Szemléje between 1912 and 1918. The periodicals are accessible in microfilm format at the National Széchényi Library. 15 Budapest address registry. Béla Fónagy lived at this address between 1911 and 1927. 16 The show was visited by 13,470 persons. The local paper, the Veszprémmegyei Újság regularly reported on the openings, the thematic material, the visitation of and other events related to the exhibition. 17 13,771 people visited the Kaposvár show. See Somogyi Hírlap. November 13, 1912. p. 4. 18 The Székesfehérvár paper Friss Újság mentioned Fónagy twice, first as a presenter, and then, citing mayor Gyula Saara, who had thanked organizers Menyhért Szántó and Béla Fónagy for their dedicated labours. The exhibition was visited by 24,579 persons. See "A városi hatóság a népegészségügyi kiállításért." In: Székesfehérvári Friss Újság, December 21, 1912, p. 1; "Tizenhétezer ember a népegészségügyi kiállításon." In: Székesjehénúri Friss Újság, January 1,1913, p. 4. 19 Szántó, Menyhért ed. Tájékoztató a Társadalmi Múzeum által Kolozsvárott 1913. május 1-től június 1-ig rendezett Nép-Egészségüg\i Kiállításról. Budapest: