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

introduction to the catalogue evaluates it in harmony with the changed requirements: "In summer 1948 several students of the Academy of Fine Arts worked in the mining area of the Nagybánya basin for two months, drawing inspiration from the work and life of the miners. Most of the young artists lived up to expectations, scoring well-deserved success with their works on display in the exhibition."

45 Within the expected themes (heroes of the age, historical figures, village scenes, industrial work, etc.) several mining scenes were exhibited, but the public could also see a few genuinely "Nagybányaist" works by artists such as Lídia Agricola's and Sándor Ziffer's self-portraits, József Balla's Nagybánya Mountains and Géza Vida's Dance from the Avas Region. The art policy of the time stressed that national differences had been abolished, a broad perspective had opened for coexisting nationalities, and the names of Géza Vida, László Weith, Margit Thorma Kiss, Imre Nagy and others were often quoted in illustration, yet it is hard to postulate a separate "Nagybánya" quality in the uniformized ideological direction.

46 Internationalist ideology washed over the differently developing cultures of the peoples' democracies. One could find the same picture type in every exhibition, with only the names changing. Artists "went into raptures" over the birth of new art in different languages, but based on a single formula, and revealed the process of their revival as in a confession.

47 Instead of supranational art linking the nations, an ideological cloud extended over the arts. Just like literature, visual arts also played a mere illustrative role. The experience of the landscape changed, strong emphasis being laid on industrial motives. "Farther away where the peak of the Gutin / who defies bluely broadbacked old Rozsály, / shadow has overcome the mountains.// The brush of autumn has covered / the trees with hundreds of colours on Kereszthegy, / the numbre smoke-clouds of the foundries graze / in the sky like a lazy flock."

48 The ideological grip of Socialist Realism was somewhat slackened in the '60s, parallel with the intensification of a political line insisting on the assimilation of national cultures. Though the old masters, Mikola, Ziffer and Oszkár Nagy, went on working, there was also a generational change, as several young graduates of the Kolozsvár Academy went to Nagybánya, some of them (Ágoston Véső, Gyula Dudás, Frigyes Walter, István Kozma) consciously adopting the legacy of Nagybánya. A wholly unique tone is represented in the painting of Nagybánya by József Balla with his bizarre, surrealistic outlook. The local Secondary School of Fine Arts, headed by Géza Vida, opened its gates in vain in 1950; it could not fill the void left by World War Two in place of the prewar art life. Both the federation of artists and the exhibitions were organized on a provincial (county) or national basis, so the genius loci disintegrated, with the museum and fragments of some oeuvres preserving the heritage of the past. In the past decades, the fame of artists still working in Nagybánya has hardly crossed the borders, the events have remained headlines in local papers only, and the art of the town has become mired in regionality. Notes 1 Johan Huizinga: Über eine Definition des Begriffs Geschichte. In: Geschichte und Kultur. Stuttgart 1954, 3. 2 Lázár, Béla: Új csapáson. [On a New Trail.] Budapest 1909. Excerpts from the book: A Ház [The House.] 1909, 35-39. 3 Emile Zola: L'Oeuvre. Paris 1886, 10. 4 Réti, István: Tizennégy esztendő a nagybányai festőiskola életéből. [Fourteen Years in the Life of the Painters Colony in Nagybánya.] In: Nagybánya és Vidéke October 17, 1909. 5 Hány kép készült Nagybányán egy hónap alatt? [How many pictures were made in Nagybánya a month?] In: Nagybánya July 23, 1914, 4. 6 The title refers to the first chapter [Montparnasse before Montparnasse] of Jean-Paul Crespelle: La vie quotidienne à Montparnasse à la Grande Époque, 1905-1930. (Paris, 1980) 7 To the history of the town: Palmer, Kálmán: Nagybánya és környéke. [Nagybánya and its Surroundings.] Budapest 1894; Móricz, Zsigmond: Nagybánya. In: Magyarország vármegyéi és városai. Szatmár vármegye. [The Counties and Towns of Hungary. Szatmár County.] Budapest 1908; Réti, István: Egy város jellemképe. [The character of a Town.] In: Nyugat 1940. (nos. 1, 2.) 8 Lauka, Gusztáv: Petőfi Sándor Nagybányán és a Zelestyei határban. [Petó'fi in Nagybánya and around Zelestye.] In: Nagybánya és Vidéke Dec. 25, 1888 (no page numbers). Excerpts reprinted: Kortársak nagy írókról. [Contemporaries on Great Writers.] Compiled by Lukácsy, Sándor. Budapest 1954, 132-134. 9 Szász, Károly: Adatok a nagybányai képírók, kő- és fafaragók történetéhez. [Data on the History of Painters, Stone and Wood Carvers in Nagybánya.] In: Emlékkönyv Kelemen Lajos születésének nyolcvanadik évfordulójára. [Memorial Volume for the 80th Birthday of Lajos Kelemen.] Ed.: Bodor András etc. Kolozsvár 1957, 566-576. 10 Farkasfalvi, Imre: Régi magyar festők. [Old Hungarian Painters.] Mezey József. In: Művészet 1907, 230. More recently on József Mezey: Balogh, Béla- Egy elfeledett nagybányai festő. [A Forgotten Painter of Nagybánya.] In: Bányavidéki Fáklya Jan. 16, 1982, 4. 11 Palmer op.cit. 77. 12 The advert was placed by photographer Károly Matskó, who worked in Nagyvárad and Máramarossziget. In: Nagybánya és Vidéke Sept. 9, 1894 (no page numbers). 13 Nagybánya a tavaszi tárlaton. [Nagybánya in the Spring Exhibition.] In: Nagybánya és Vidéke April 22, 1894 (no page numbers). 14 A nőegyleti kiállítás. [The Exhibition of the Ladies Club.] In: Nagybánya és Vidéke May 19, 1895 (no page numbers). 15 Lányi, Vera: Festőink az 1896. évi millenáris kiállításon. [Our Painters Exhibiting in the Millenary Exhibition of 1896.] In: A