A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 45. (2006)

Szabó Lilla: „Átfordítások és keresztezések” Gondolatok Mednyánszky László „művészetelméletéről”, valamint müveinek francia párhuzamairól

the Mednyánszky-Szirmay family, their commitment to the 1848 revolution and the nation's general condition after the revolution was brutally crushed. His diaries faithfully record the books, which shaped his attitudes (in 1894, he mentions reading Tolstoy's Sevastopol and Hyppolite Taine's Les Origines de la France contemporaine, 1876-1894) which set his own experiences into the broader perspectives of history. He realised that the outcasts of society, whom he had until then met as individuals, now appeared as a dynamic mass and, also, that the European revolutions, including the Hungarian one, would eventually trigger a world-wide cataclysm. His decision to serve as a volunteer in World War 1 can probably be explained by these realisations. The third major topic of this study covers the parallels with French painting. In 1873, he enrolled at in the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, attending the courses held by the military painter Isidore Alexandre Pils in the École des Beaux-Arts. He lived and worked in France for longer periods until 1897. His sketch-book contains an entry from 1904, listing the most important dates of his life and the places where he sojourned for longer periods: " 1873-74 Munich, Chuleru, 1874 Autumn in Paris, 75-76 Paris [with Ausgestellt written underneath], ... 89 Paris, Normandy, 90 Paris, 1889 Summer in Pest, Autumn in Tajna, and thence to Paris Barbizon, Suci an Brie (Restareai), 1890 Spring in Suci, Summer in Normandy, Suci an Brie, Polgazlam ... living with Bod Mer, 1891 Winter in Suci Treim e Teat, Spring in Marseille, 1892 Winter in Venice Nehre ..., 1895 Winter in Paris, 1896 World Expo in Nehri in Spring, Summer in Pest, Autumn in Paris." In 1897, the Georges Petit Galerie organised an exhibition displaying sixty paintings by Mednyánszky. With a few notable exceptions, most of these paintings, as well as the others made in France, remain unknown. In her memoirs, Margit Mednyánszky (Mrs István Czóbel) mentions that following his stay in Barbizon, Mednyánszky moved on to Sucy-en-Brie, "where he acquired a magnificent atelier. He stayed there for almost a year. He befriended a young painter, Gardette ... who invited László to be his best man. László bought a piece of land for the groom in Sucy-en-Brie, where he could build his home. ... I believe that land is still registered in his name. It is lamentable that all of László's paintings and sketches made there and in Paris and Barbizon remained in Sucy. These have been lost. Once László had finished a painting, he lost all interest and sold even the loveliest ones for a few pennies. ... He returned to Hungary in August, 1891. ... At the end of the year, he returned to Paris. He often got together with Justh's two friends, Melchior de Polignac and the English painter Bunyan ... he often spoke of the Parisian painters, among whom he greatly admired Puvis de Chavenne." We know from his sister's recollections that he studied Corot's painting and the collection of the Louvre during his stays in Paris. His work shows the influence of the well-known paintings of Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, Julien Dupré, Theodore Rousseau, Charles Francis Daubigny and Jean Francois Millet, and his wonderful landscapes were inspired by the creations of Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. His unusual, mystical paintings betray the impact of Odilon Redon 's graphics. The bold figures in his paintings portraying vagabonds have much in common with Daumier's style. Still, Mednyánszky can hardly be regarded as an epigone of French or any other painting. His art reflects his unique perspective and message. His depictions of vagabonds and the series of dramatic, expressive paintings made during World War 1 rank Mednyánszky among the leading artists of modern 20

lh century art. Mednyánszky's works made in France still await catalogisation and evaluation. Lilla Szabó 354