E. Csorba Csilla - Sipőcz Mariann: Arany János és a fényképezés. Országh Antal fotográfus /1821-1878/ pályaképe (Budapest, 2019)
E. Csorba Csilla: Arany János és a fényképezés
Summary Csilla E. Csorba János Arany and Photography This study has been initiated by the small image executed with a special technique which Antal Országh took of the poet and his family in 1863. The photograph on ceramic paper, which had been thought lost for a long time, was purchased by the Petőfi Literary Museum from a private collection in 2017. In line with the customs of the time, the Arany family collected the photographs of their beloved in albums or kept them on the walls of their apartment. A special result of the János Arany Memorial Year (2017) has been that many photographs of the poet, his wife, daughter, grandchild and others, which have been forgotten or not seen for more than a century, have turned up from private and public collections. The pictures inserted in albums have been scattered, yet even in their fragmented nature they indicate how photographs were used at the time. The theme raised in the title may seem misleading when you think how averse János Arany was to being photographed and how little opportunity he grasped to have his image taken for his contemporaries or for future generations. “... Being of delicate health,” he pointed out when declining a publisher’s request,” I have no desire to have my sickly figure multiplied by photographs.” Yet since his childhood Arany was attracted to visual representations and the pleasure of drawing accompanied all his life. He was open to visual novelties (story-telling by pictures, magic lantern shows and stereo pictures at fairs) and more than once did he become a tacit participant of debates about inventions such as photography. He provided space for the first high-level debate about the nature of photography as an art in his paper Koszorú (Wreath), where Bertalan Székely from a critical standpoint while Miklós Barabás supportively spoke about the nature of “Painting and Photographing”, illustrating it with examples from life. Images populated János Arany’s surroundings, both in office and at home; therefore, besides the portraits connected to turning points of his life, the János Arany’s photographic universe includes the many photographs of people, objects, land- and cityscapes, as well as his photo graph-like messages evoking his reflections during his daily work. He assisted the work of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as a notary from 1865 to 1869 and as its general secretary between 1870 and 1877. His activity in office required much organising effort, which included important milestones such as the accommodation of the Esterházy Gallery, gathering in and then returning photographs to the members of the Academy, and expressing gratitude for, as well as accommodating the incoming donated pictures. He was well aware of the nature of photography and its modern, practical use was in his focus of attention during his official activity. He related sensitively and acceptingly to the presence of photography as a modern challenge and the scene of the Academy for disseminating and shaping culture proved to be a suitable location. The first photographs, reproductions of artworks of a scholarly character, were made during the period when Arany worked for the Academy. Their collection and commission were part of his official work. Antal Országh made copies of Hungarian historical portraits, while Antal Simonyi and Sándor Beszédes published items of art collections using photographs. A special illustrated edition of Collected Poems by János Arany endtled Arany Album, published by Mór Ráth, was made more festive by presenting the copies of paintings and works of graphic art illustrating the poems with photographs made on albumen prints. 45
