Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 23. (Budapest, 2004)
Györgyi FAJCSÁK: Bertalan Hatvány, an unknown Connoisseur of Oriental Art
of Laozi's Dao de jing ("The Book of The Way and its Power") in 1957. A revised edition of the work was published in 1977, and this latter served as a memorial both to his mentor Zoltán Felvinczi Takács and to his scholar friend Tibor Horváth 39 . Hatvány also worked on a translation of the Bhagavad Ghita, which was also intended to be published by Látóhatár. Other writings if his were published in Új Látóhatár (successor to Látóhatár), as well as by Irodalmi Újság (an emigre journal published in London), and in the columns of Suisse Contemporaine. II. Bertalan Hatvany's oriental collection "Since my childhood I had been interested in the history, philosophy and culture of Asia; but all my life I was somewhat lazy and indecisive, and in my youth a little irresponsible... I had a difficult time choosing an appropriate career." Thus Hatvány begins his autobiography, written for the Látóhatár journal in 1957. 40 Hatvany's serious interest in oriental art can be dated to his (first) Asian journey in 1925. As mentioned above, his family had sent him abroad to study, and he returned home from New York via Asia. We do not know the route of this Asian journey, but we may assume that he visited Japan, China, countries of South-East Asia (French Indochina, Siam, Java, Singapore), Burma, India, Iran, and Egypt; and that en route he purchased the first items of his oriental collection. On his return home Hatvány became acquainted with his subsequent mentor Zoltán Felvinczi Takács, who served as his guide to the little-known world of the orient. His later writings and opinions clearly reflect the influence of Takács' principles and guidance.. 41 At the Exhibition of Oriental Art held in Budapest in 1929, which was put together from major Hungarian private collections, Hatvány contributed an impressively large number of objects; which is remarkable, considering that only four years had passed since the Asian journey which marked the beginning of his active interest in the subject. We may gain an idea of the character of his collection on the basis of the objects selected for exhibition by the organisers, Zoltán Felvinczi Takács and Károly Csányi. From the Hatvány collection, in the catalogue are listed 26 Chinese objects, 12 from Japan, 3 from South-East Asia, and 6 from Iran. 42 Considering the number and the quality of the objects, the Chinese material may be regarded as forming the strongest part of the collection. Within this group, the statuettes are the most significant. Some of these are burialobjects: ceramic tomb figures from the Wei dynasty, 386-535, and the Tang dynasty, 618-907 (female musicians, noble ladies, tomb guardian, merchant from Inner Asia, warrior figure); while another sub-group comprises Buddhist statues (Tang-dynasty, 7 th — 10 th , Songdynasty, 10 ,h-13'\ and Ming-dynasty, 14 ,h-17'" centuries.) In his manuscript titled "On Hungarian collectors", Antal Géber describes Hatvany's collection as follows: "His acquisition of these ancient Chinese grave-ceramics demonstrates expert knowledge and planning. He had a warrior from the Wei-dynasty, and a Tu-Kwei from the same period 43 The group of female musicians was from the Tang-dynasty. The most attractive piece is a painted wood-carving with six figures; 44 it depicts the Buddha and five disciples mourning for him. The style of this piece is reminiscent of Indo-Hellenistic art." 45 All of the objects mentioned were included in the 1929 exhibition. 46 In Hatvany's Chinese collection exhibited in 1929, apart from the statues were textile objects: woven and embroidered silks (Ming- and Qing-dynasties), as well as lacquerware, for example a red lacquerware box of the 18 th century. 47 Most of the Japanese objects were 19 lh-century woodcuts and paintings. The Persian objects in the exhibition included textiles, small items of furniture, and a wall-tile. Material from South-East Asia included a bronze Buddhist statue, a batik headscarf, and a vajang figure. The history of the development of the Hatvány collection in the 1930s may be described as more "spiritual" than material - if we can say this of a collection. This was the period of his life when he was developing an indepth knowledge of oriental art. We know from his correspondence with Zoltán Felvinczi
