Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 20. (Budapest, 2001)

Hilda HORVÁTH: Walter Crane's Wallpaper in the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts

HILDA HORVÁTH WALTER CRANE'S WALLPAPER IN THE BUDAPEST MUSEUM OF APPLIED ARTS At the turn of the twentieth century British artists - Walter Crane among them - played a pioneering role in the creation of a new style of applied art. In Hungary at this time there was strong interest in the endeavours of contemporary foreign artists. This found expression in the exhibition policy of Budapest's Museum of Applied Arts, one of the oldest such museums in Europe (it had been founded in 1872, and in 1896 had moved into a Secession-style building designed by Ödön Lechner). Jenő Radisics, its open-minded director, provided considerable opportunities for the showing of works by contemporary artists. As he wrote in the foreword to the catalogue for the 1898 "Modern Art" exhibition (which contained works by outstanding foreign masters), "A notable change has taken place in modem applied art. It began in England, and in foreign countries today the rallying cry is that the artistic forms of past centuries have outlived themselves and can no longer be revived. Accordingly, we must seek out new forms, forms appropriate to the spirit of the age." In the same year, 1898, the Museum exhibited prize-winning works from Britain's "National Competition" - examples considered worthy of imitation -, and some of the material put on show passed into the possession of the institution.

1 In its influence and significance the largescale Walter Crane exhibition organized in 1900 was comparable to its "Modem Art" predecessor of two years before. In the preparatory work for it an important role was played by the actor and graphic artist Kálmán Rozsnyay (1872-1948), alias Van der Hoschke (he wrote under the name Sydney Carton). At around the tum of the century Rozsnyay spent several years in London, and was to become an ambassador for British culture in Hungary. The exhibition showed different types of applied art work by Crane. The close connection between the British master and Hungarian artistic circles at this time is indicated by the fact that, accompanied by his family, Crane spent the period 10 October - 5 November 1900 in Hungary, visiting not only Budapest, Szeged and Pécs, but also Transylvania, where, in the Kalotaszeg region, he filled an entire sketch-book. During his stay in Hungary Crane executed various works, among them a fan

2 (with his sons, Lancelot and Lionel), a vase

3 in Zsolnay factory (design and painting by Crane), the title page of the 21 October 1900 issue of the Hungarian magazine Új Idők (New Times), memorial certificate for Professor János Kovács of Kolozsvár

's Francis Joseph University and bookplates for Kálmán Kovács, Kálmán Rozsnyay, and for Elemér Czakó, researcher and librarian at the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts.

4 Crane himself gives a detailed account of his visit in his autobiography

5

, and contemporaries followed his activities with attention - for example, in 1900 the journal Magyar Iparművészet (Hungarian Applied Art) devoted a special issue to Walter Crane. Crane's "Triumph of Labour" woodcut was acquired by the Museum as a present from the artist.

6 At the same time, as contemporary correspondence shows, the Museum bought several works by Crane. The purchases were authorized by Decree No. 79872 issued by the Royal