Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 23. (Budapest, 2004)
Györgyi FAJCSÁK: Bertalan Hatvány, an unknown Connoisseur of Oriental Art
1909 and 1914, and in another on jade objects 69 published in 1912. His examinations were centred on the beginning of Chinese imperial culture, the period of the Han dynasty (B.C. 206-A.D. 220). The exploration of early Chinese cultural objects was a revolutionary new development which occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century; it replaced the belief in the immobility of Chinese art with a new dynamic historical approach. The beginning of archaeological investigations, combined with the opening up of the Chinese interior provinces by the construction of railway links in the 1920s, brought to light a completely new and different set of Chinese cultural objects. Now more and more appreciation was given to Chinese aesthetics in its own right; this was the period when the beauties of ancient bronzes 70 and monochrome porcelain objects, as well as the merits of early Chinese ceramic art (including the tomb ceramics of the Han and Tang dynasties, which were discovered in vast numbers 71 ), began to be appreciated. This new approach, which began at the turn of the century, had by the 1920s become widely known and accepted; and signified the discovery of a new aspect of Chinese art. And this was the very time when Bertalan Hatvány started to build up his oriental collection. The same change can be clearly seen in other Hungarian private oriental collections of the time. 72 The most valuable part of Hatvany's collection was that composed of Buddhist sculptures: Indian, Chinese, and South-East Asian objects of stone, wood, porcelain and stucco. Particularly significant were a Parinirvána figuregroup from the Chinese Song dynasty, and a seventh-century Turfan head of a Bodhisattva 73 Undoubtedly valuable also were the series of Wei- and Tang-dynasty tomb figures. From today's point of view these are in themselves not so strikingly novel, 74 but their special interest lies in their historical position in this collection. At one time the Hatvány collection could boast almost a hundred objects. Of these, just a handful of the Chinese objects are today preserved in the Hopp Museum. 75 Hatvány presented two Chinese objects to the museum: in 1929, a Wei-dynasty tomb-figure of a standing man (inv. no. 2799), 76 and in 1930 a Han-dynasty bronze equestrian figure wearing north-Asian clothing, from Ordos (inv. no. 4045). 77 These two donations are also recorded by Antal Géber. 7s The other extant objects were put on deposit in the museum after the Second World War. These comprise: one figure, a mourning disciple, from the extremely significant Parinirvána scene (painted wood, Song dynasty, inv. no. L.116); 79 a standing Guanyin Bodhisattva figure (painted wood with traces of gilding, Song dynasty, inv. no. L.115); 80 and a Bodhisattva seated on a throne (wood with traces of pigment, Ming dynasty, inv. no. L.117). 81 These few objects are but a fragmentary memento of an extremely significant artcollection; but despite this, they may perhaps succeed in transmitting the credo of their collector: the unity of man and environment in oriental civilisation. 82 (Translated by Robert Bernard and Laura Lilik)
