L. Kovásznai Viktória: Modern magyar éremművészet 2. 1976–2000 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2004/4)

Traditional commemorative medals, which conjure up someone's memory on its two sides moulded by certain rules also had a role in the activity of some prominent artists. Thought slightly divergent in style, András Kiss Nagy

's (Gyula Krúdy Medal I-Il, 1978; Vilmos Aba Novak, 1984), Tamás Vígb's (Béla Bartók with a Piano, 1981) and Róbert Csíkszentmihályí s pieces (Charles de Tolnay, 1982; János Vitéz, 1988) are similar in that they adhere to the traditional system of commemorative medal which they modernize in like spirit and with like solutions. Their medals are more or less circular and two-sided, which does not mean two flat surfaces: they interpret the medal as a single unified form and treat it accordingly. The portraits are embedded in a variety of motifs which often include allusions to the portrayed person's activity. It is also traditional to have inscriptions - often on both sides - which are incorporated most inventively in the whole of the composition. Through their wittiness, animated surfaces and fine execution, their works adhere to tradition by also incorporating the style and recent achievements of contemporary sculpture. It is conspicuous that the visualization of the existential experience of the modern age by the medals of the period was still of signal importance; medals of such implications clad in a new form constituted one range of the crop. That was the period when the artists, once characterizing the life situations of their age in genre scenes, had awakened to the requirement to create their own individual symbolisms. In the oeuvres of Tamás Asszonyi, Erika Ligeti and Antal Czinder series, composite medals (Asszonyi: Find, 1976; Four Bartók Paraphrases III, 1981), standing medals (Czinder: Church, 1976; No.

8, Kálvin tér. 1980; Ligeti: Béla Bartók, 1981), as well as the novel textures of the surface and the use of imprints enhanced variety. As for a few pieces, the imitation of sculpture in the round with the contrast of light and shade (Czinder: Bélapátfalva. 1975; At the Lake, 1984) draws them closer to small sculpture, but they refrain from daring fonnál innovations. This approach is most easily palpable in Ligeti's output. In her medals, the story, the narrative is always more important than any question of form by itself. The message is conveyed by a surrealistically combined set of motifs of her symbolic system created with the repetitive impressions of natural objects of identical meaning. Asszonyi also developed an idiosyncratic set of symbols. The female torso as the symbol of earlier cultures and of the endangered culture of today features on several medals. In his series devoted to one of the most pressing problems of our day, the harm caused by industrial production (Our Brave New World, 1980—83) the tortured, decaying female torso exposes the dubious future of the values created by man over the millennia. Tension is caused by the contrast between the bright bronze section and the green patina of the corroded areas, as well as between the torso and the non-figurative details. His views about plasticity and organic culture range Endre András Tornay also in this group, although his medals verge on the borderline between the figurative and nonfigurative. His motifs are from the plant world, especially trees, used symbolically. His organic forms, as well as his human figures reduced to signs (Oil the Way Home, 1982) conjure up the realm of folklore, and are singular as such. In his individual symbolism, which emerged by the mid-'80s, the organic forms were predominant, even though he also used geometrical elements, and his compositions also bore the mark of the notion of space as it had evolved in earlier phases of the medal. In his works therefore ( 'Train of Thoughts, series, 1985) the spatial relations of the motifs and constitutents echo the order of the natural realm. At the beginning of the studied period, the artists still represented space to convey the experience of modern life and their innermost feelings. Róbert Csíkszentmihályi's medals of vigorous surface animation (Winter Night, 1976; Lovers' Tryst, \S>11) carry symbols without the sign of exhaustion. Quite different arc the pieces of his series Running (1982). No trace indicates space; his running figures, though of a modern character, are traditional. The figures shown in the phases of running symbolize harrassed man of our accelerated life also egged on by himself. It can be seen as the apex of Csíkszentmihályi's individual symbolical system. The pieces suggest that overstraining, blind progress trampling down everything and everyone can only end in terror, despair and failure. Already the work of the above-mentioned artists suggested that the interpretation of the medal had slackened. The rules of the art began to be individually interpreted. Even the adherents of tradition felt the need of renewal, thought they could only conceive of a novel approach on the traditional bases, in view of the former achievements. The aim of György Kiss And János Kalmars works was to give a plastic form to the existential experience of contemporary man. However, the creation of symbols became less accentuated and the questions of form came to the fore, but the animated surface, the representation of space and tire use of simplified sharp forms were still frequent. Both artists relied on reality for the abstracted form, their works being combinations of concrete and abstract elements. Kiss' theme is always taken from infinite nature, be it the harmony of nature or its constructive-destructive force. His compositions emanating suppressed passion and force are attempts to represent the laws of nature and their inherent order (Sundisc, series, 1976; Precipices and Crests, series, 1985). The world of Kalmars medals is more limited