Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 22. (Budapest, 2003)

Piroska ÁCS: Géza Maróti's Series of Drawings for a Planned Head Office of the National Association of Applied Arts in Hungary

PIROSKA ACS GÉZA MAROTI'S SERIES OF DRAWINGS FOR A PLANNED HEAD OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF APPLIED ARTS IN HUNGARY* Faced with the urgent need for renewal in the last decade of the 19th century, Hungary's applied arts had three major supporting pillars to rely on: the National Museum of Applied Arts in Hungary, which had not officially become a government institution before 1878 when it already had a turbulent prehistory to look back on; the School of Applied Arts founded in 1880; and the National Association of Applied Arts in Hungary formed in 1885. All three institutions set to themselves the same principal, or long-term, objective of advancing the cause of a thriving applied-arts industry in Hungary. They proceeded to achieve that goal in accordance with their various approaches and potentials while maintaining close collaboration with each other. As laid down in its charter, the Museum of Applied Arts undertook the aesthetic education of the public and the instruction of artisans (in its mission relying, above all, on its expanding collections), while the School of Applied Arts had its obvious goal of training future generations of master craftsmen. Meanwhile, the National Association of Applied Arts proposed to encourage contemporary aspirations and to create the necessary conditions of evaluating and promoting those aspirations. It intended to move large sections *...what has hen left out of the life-work catalogue. The Museum of Applied Arts held an exhibition surveying the life-work of Géza Maród (1875-1941 ) in 2002. Entitled "We Are Atlantis"

—Vederemo!, a catalogue written by several authors was published on the.occasion. Due to limitations of space, the catalogue only included the major periods of Maróti's oeuvre. This study is meant, among other things, to serve as a supplement to the catalogue. of the public and the community of artisans to action in areas outside the authority of the Museum of Applied Arts. It supported creative talent with tender-competitions involving prizes, orders for designs and other special commissions. It mediated in the commerce of artworks through buying and selling them as a free financial agent. The journal jointly published by the museum and the association called Művészi Ipar (Artistic Industry, 188594), later renamed Magyar Iparművészet (Hungarian Applied Arts, 1897-1944) provided space for the current issues of applied arts as well as the academic publication of the museum. The symbiosis of the public collection, the public institution and the association was reinforced by their being housed, from 1896, under the same roof inside the Üllői út palace. "The Association has held exhibitions on a larger scale since its relocation to the Museum of Applied Arts in 1896. As it is widely known, these exhibitions have been important events in the artistic life of the country, especially in the realm of domestic decoration and design, as it is on these occasions that the talents and expertise of our outstanding creators are introduced to the populace. The general public, as well as the artists and artisans concerned, have profited greatly by these exhibitions whose rigorously evaluated and painstakingly arranged interiors provide the visitor with plentiful enlightening material whereby to refine its tastes."

1 Géza Maróti had already been involved in the life of the Association of Applied Arts as a young