Nagy Ildikó szerk.: Nagybánya művészete, Kiállítás a nagybányai művésztelep alapításának 100. évfordulója alkalmából (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 1996/1)

Szücs György: Nagybánya - változó időben

bers, with over 30 artists working outside the school. This amounts to 120 painters working in Nagybánya. If each paints one picture a week, that comes to four a month. That is the minimum. One hundred and twenty painters thus paint four-hundred and eighty pictures a month."

5 II. The pre-Nagybánya history of Nagybánya and its surroundings

6 was tied to mining, as the names of the neighbouring settlements confirm: Felsőbánya, Kapnikbánya, Kisbánya, Láposbánya (in Hungarian bánya means mine). The earliest extant diplomas date from the 14th century, the Anjou period, featuring not only the town's at that time name (Rivulus Dominarum, Asszonypataka) but also Zazar and Zazarbánya. The name Nagybánya (literally 'great mine') became prevalent after the victory of the Ottomans at Mohács. Not unlike the rest of Hungarian towns, the history of Nagybánya also alternates between radiant and dark pages. After the temporary rule of the Serbian despots, in the mid-15th century Nagybánya went into the possession of János Hunyadi, who took a personal interest in the questions of mining and did a great deal to promote the industry and trade of the town to European standards. That period saw the completion of the tower of Saint Stephen's church, begun in the first decades of the 14th century, which was to remained one of the most characteristic features of the townscape even after it had been reduced to ruins. The gold mine and the mint, as well as the privileges of the town, attracted many settlers; the inflammable wooden houses were gradually replaced by stone buildings and the centre of the town was fortified by a town wall. The revenues of the town were eked out by mills, breweries, viticulture and handicrafts.

7 Strangely enough, by the end of the 19th century hardly any remains evoked the Middle Ages: except for the Bastion of Butchers on the southern stretch of the fortification, István (Stephen) Tower, the former mint by the River Zazar, and the late Gothic portal in the main square, the town seemed to be a tabula rasa waiting for the arrival of the artists and the advent of the next, even brighter era. The cultural history of Nagybánya did contain a number of important events even before the appearance of the painters. On his way to Koltó in 1847, Petőfi stayed at the Golden Eagle Inn in the main square and, as a democratic thinker, he also descended into the mine. Nearly half a century later, Gusztáv Lauka recalled the poet's visit and the friendly society welcoming him, including Count Sándor Teleki, Zsigmond Törökfalvi Papp: "Petőfi took delight in the beauty and romanticism of the familiar lovely region, visited the landmarks of the town, made excursions in this intimate company to spots in the surroundings worthy of a look, and not only wrote some fine and memorable poems inspired by his recollections but also recited them at a tea or coffee party."

8 After the War of Independence, Zsigmond Kemény went to Nagybánya, where he wrote his novel Hard Time. After Mór Jókai's visit in August 1876, the hill in Széchenyi (earlier Mária) Park - a significant setting of the colony's establishment - was renamed after him. After the miniers and goldsmiths, the first painters appeared in the 17th century. The name of "Georgius Képíró" survived from 1637, and István Csengeri Képíró of Nagybánya served in the court of Gábor Bethlen, but much water was to flow under the bridges of the Zazar before genuine art life evolved in Nagybánya.

9 Before the launching of the colony, the best known painter has been József Mezey, who took part in the freedom fights of 1848-49 on the side of Colonel Bern and painted portraits of Petőfi and later of Bern. He began the pictures of the side altars in the Roman Catholic Holy Trinity church in Nagybánya after the revolution and competed them in 1852. He worked both in Nagybánya and Máramarossziget, as well as the nearby villages.

10 Antal Ligeti, a native of the town, also visited the place, and Árpád Feszty painted his famous Mine Disaster here. As the background to the picture is the Lobkowitz adit of Kereszthegy, it can be regarded as the first topographic picture of Nagybánya.

11 After going blind in 1863 and taking up poetry, Mezey died in 1882, so his lifework had no points of contact with those of the Nagybánya painters Réti and Thorma. Although before the "conquest" of the painters in 1896 there had been a lively social life in Nagybánya with several societies for the public good and for economic prosperity having been founded, the art scene was practically limited to the stage. There was little demand for paintings, very few people owned genuine art works, except for some families of high birth. An advertisement placed by an itinerant photographer in the local papers was well targeted at the public taste: "...with the help of my most up-todate lightpainting devices I can immediately produce portraits, group pictures, landscapes and other shots from the size of visiting cards to life-size, in black or painted in oil, water-colour or chromium, most naturally faithful to life. I take shots of little children, birds and other lively creatures within seconds. Even in gloomy weather excellent photos can be made."

12 The painters who first visited Nagybánya and later worked there regularly not only disseminated a new view of nature, but also spread a passion for collecting pictures among the residents: within a few years' time there were hardly any families who had no original paintings hanging on their walls. To do justice, one has to mention that the paper Nagybánya és Vidéke (Nagybánya and its Surroundings) had carried two reports on art events in connection with the town. In 1894 it reviewed the spring show of Műcsarnok where two natives of the town exhibited. István Réti put a female portrait on display, while the photographer Sándor Ürmösy had landscapes shown.

13 The next year an exhibition was staged in Nagybánya, organized by the local Ladies' Club. Products of folk art, handicrafts and historical