Muladi Brigitta - Veszprémi Nóra szerk.: A festmény ideje – Az újraértelmezett hagyomány (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai)

English texts - "One day we too shall be ancient". Notes on the time of the work of art and the time of the Sensaria Group. Zoltán Somhegyi - Side Notes to Figurative Realist Painting. Gábor Lajta

"One day we too shall be ancient" /Fontenelle/ Notes on the time of the work of art and the time of the Sensaria Group Zoltán Somhegyi Time is a central issue in any discussion of the Sensaria Croup. Yet, if it was noted in the earlier essays, it was dealt with only in relation to the entire group, and an important aspect, that of individual tradition-time, has remained unemphasized. After all, time is as much a question for individual artists and works as for the group as a whole. I discuss two better-known modes of temporality, before expounding my own proposal. For the sake of precision, I need to extend the concept of time: by it, I will mean both the valuable and usable tradition, and the time that appears in the works. I. Group time The term is merely to denote the position of the group - any group - in (art historical) time. Nonetheless, this kind of temporality describes a time that is related to the group only externally, and is not closely associated with the founding concept and ideal of Sensaria, merely provides its historicity. II. The Sensaria and time What makes the Sensaria exciting is that it took tradition and time as the founding principles of its concept. However, this should also serve as a warning, on two accounts. For the Sensaria, the respect for tradition means a new emphasis on the "sensual" aspect of tradition, in contrast with what is so overvalued these days, "concept." Note that this in itself is (only) another concept. It should not unduly determine individual work, as only independent performance can guarantee a good and authentic work of art. This is why it is important to respect individual work, and to present different - parallel - approaches. The quote from Fontenelle I chose for the title of my essay is a reminder of the relativity of historical categories, of the fact that "antiquity" and "modernity" in themselves are no guarantee of quality. And this aphorism of Goethe warns that a good piece of art requires no clarification: "Pictorial presentation: the realm of poetry; hypothetical explanation: the realm of philosophy." III. The representation of individual tradition-time One aspect of the Sensaria that has remained unexplored in these discussions is the individual representation of tradition and time, varying from artist to artist. Each work records the time when it came into being and the time of its creator. These become fixed in the work, and cannot be altered. The time of the tradition, however, is not fixed. What is tradition is already reflection. Tradition becomes tradition because we know that it is tradition, that it is non-contemporaneous, that it belongs to another time. We are interested in it because of its difference. It is the representation of this relationship that is interesting. This time is already controlled by the artist. It can be used freely, and it is to be used. Though tradition would exist without the artist, the fact that it is determined by the reflection of the creator makes its appearance dependent upon the work of art. Tradition is thus ab ovo reflection. Reflection is not fixed, though it wants to be fixed. It wants to appear in the work. Tradition demands to be used. This is why it becomes important to see how an artist channels in the kind of tradition and time that we can also call knowledge. The two possible extremes of time-representation are defined by two artists within the group. Thanks to Attila Kondor's choice of themes, tradition appears as a whole, the length of the time and the entirety of the process are represented. At the other end stands the art of Márta Kucsora, who seizes the ungraspable moment by freezing ephemeral visions of nature. The activities of the other artists mark points between these two extremes. Roland Horváth and Tamás Lorincz explore the question of personal and present time. Dániel László, Krisztián Horváth and Lehel Kovács concentrate on the passage of time, the problem of how it is spent, and how the tradition can be connected to the present. While warning of the importance of time, the melancholy pictures of Gábor Megyeri Horváth, Abel Szabó and Róbert Sütő also manage to flash promises of hope. Zsófia Balogh's art, in turn, is a modern attempt to evoke medieval rapture. Side Notes to Figurative Realist Painting Gábor Lajta As an offspring of art, new figurativeness had many challenges at its birth. Its parents had often been forced to miscarry, sometimes entire oeuvres dried up or changed direction out of necessity. "Should the time come when it is necessary to draw again, I wouldn't be embarrassed because I can draw," said Emilio Vedova, Italian abstract painter. Poor old Vedova, did he hear the call of the times to draw again, and if he did, did he have enough time and energy left to prove that he can draw? The primary condition for new figurativeness - for any art - is not to obey any call, any necessity. New figurativeness does not claim that art does not need to be learned. It does not claim everyone is an artist. Which fundamentally changed the artistic practice. The new figurative realist painting does not rely on prohibitions. 20thcentury modernism, for instance, banned the story. In the history of art, modernity was to set up the most barriers. A no to story, a no to representation, a no to realism, and finally, a no to the image. Realism is only one of many possible modes of expression. The new realism probably emerged in the wake of the desire to find a way out of the chaos of art forms. Not every picture that represents is realist. Realism assumes a certain "degree of reality." If representation is not differentiated enough, there is a fair chance the artistic experience will not be very differentiated either. A poor picture will provoke a poor experience. It is impossible to document dreams because they are blurred and visually confused. It is possible to document passions,