Imre Györgyi szerk.: A modell, Női akt a 19. századi magyar művészetben (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2004/2)

Tanulmányok / Studies - Imre Györgyi: A modell / The Model

died. [...] Makart saw my pupils' exercises in composition and that is why he wanted to take me to the Academy of Vienna."

78 The copy of a letter has survived in Székely's 13th sketchbook, written probably to Hans Makart, perhaps on the very occasion of his invitation to Vienna. In it Székely summarises with scientific precision his artistic principles, expounding them in connection with female imagery, or more precisely Leda and the Swan

—a theme that engaged him for decades.

179 (Cat. IX1, 3-4) The teacher-painter appears to have structured his essay-like letter according to the questions raised in the 4th and 6th chapter of Aristotle's Poetics,

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0 giving him an opportunity to broach the topic of the genre criticism of pictorial themes and contemplate whether to regard the mythological story set in the open air of Leda and the Swan as the subject of a landscape, a historical or a genre painting. Prior to this Székely located the painting of Leda in a studio closed-off from the outer world

181 and gave the instruction of 'not to paint in the open air because pictures have their own rules. [...] Both outdoors and in the studio one transmits impressions into the painting that though adjacent within nature, do not fulfil the requirements of the picture.'

182 Contrary to convention Székely identified his work as a discipline of science. Right at the beginning of the letter he states that on his picture of Leda 'delight is afforded not by imitation but by rather artistic elaboration, colour or some other feature'

—that is, in Székely's paraphrasing

—'in the case of "Leda" the real (image) is totally incidental because, unseen by anyone, it cannot be the starting point. What we consider genuine (lifelike) is the way female nature is presented in Leda. This is shown through the elaboration of form, as form is a key element of art. Under the word "form" we understand all means of expression, such as: plastic forms, gestures, light (lighting), colour, manner of presentation etc."

85 Székely believed that the human body should not merely be perceived on the basis of the subject as a landscape theme. He interpreted the topic of Leda as a historical genre. 'The theme of historical painting is the human figure which is a plastic subject', and thus the key to the artist's task of depicting bodies is 'to light the human figure in the manner the most advantageous to a plastic object."

84 The work which has a story as its subject

—n accordance with chapter 6 of Aristotle's Poetics

— is the art of action whose aim is the generating of sympathy and fear. Székely created this work, which evolved in his studio as a discipline of optics, from the plastic qualities of an illuminated body, regarded by him as contrary to the accidental capturing of an impression of nature. His notion of art therefore differed from that of Makart's, as expressed by Székely in his letter of reply: 'Your letter contained the opinion that a Leda cannot be painted in a studio, for

—being a plein air theme

—it can only be sold if painted in plein air.' In the course of the letter he channels the question in the following direction: 'The case when "Leda" signifies a chromatically designed task needs further explanation, remaining aware of the speculation of the effect flesh produces within nature (incidentally this is the resignation of plastic qualities [...]).

n85 Consequently his object was different to Makart's idea of sellable painting, something that acquired a primary role in the publicity forming around painters in the life of 19th-century salons.

186 It also differed from the poetpainters of Munich (maler-Poeten), though similarly to them Székely draws a parallel between the role of the painter and poet. 'Natural impressions can be compared to the common manner of human speech, while natural impressions put the rhythm to poetry.'

187 Székely's starting point was the artistic impression and in this case he examined the present model, Berta Rosenzweig, in order to see 'how female nature displays itself in Leda'. This part of the letter has been phrased in the form of a picture poem: Tf we take Leda'

s case, as far as the person is concerned, reality I is fiot the model itself, Berta Rosenzweig, truth I is not merely the figure of a Grecian girl, but the choice I should ideally be a lovely girl of the right age.'

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™ Székely suggests a new kind of classification of historical paintings when defining it with the present and the subjective. His genre criticism goes back to academic traditions of Munich, as his early notes shed light upon In 1861 he wrote: '... the painting of history has no future [...]: there are few objects [which] can be represented by painting. I will therefore apply myself to genre painting

—describing the present for the future is a healthy notion...'.

189 Since his studies in Munich he had been interested in the occurrence of erotic genre subjects in world literature

—from Spanish picaresque novels to the libertine 'stumble stones' of Italy and France: from Boccaccio and Pietro Aretino to Mendoza's Lazarillo de Tormes, De Sade or Choderlos de Laclos.

190 'The word "genre" when applied to painting serves the purpose,' as Watelet explains, 'of distinguishing the historical painters from those who, restricting themselves to certain objects, study them individually and depict them, abiding by the principle of only painting things that are present."

91 Székely regarded historical genre painting as the subjective branch of the historical genre, and in this sense classified Makart as a poet-painter too.

192 The literary subject of Leda and the Swan is a myth of amorous pursuit

—according to the genre tradition of its depiction ad absurdum of a 'hunting scene', where the woman's body is the prey. (Cat. IX—

1) (Székely also portrayed his Japanese Woman (Cat. X-I) as a 'hunting still life', where, next to the woman combing her hair, lies a bird of paradise as a wonderful and exotic spoil.) We can say therefore that Székely had ties with the academic convention of demonstrating opposing emotions within the subject of the genre: its character of Leda and the swan fighting one another.

195 Revaluating it, however, Székely subordinated the theme to a 'main thing' according to the