Polónyi Péter: Emlékezések a gödöllői művésztelepre (Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény, Gödöllő, 1982)

PÓLÓNYI, PÉTER: RECOLLECTIONS ON THE GÖDÖLLŐ ARTISTS' SETTLEMENT

4. özv. Illés Istvánná Rétsán Margit. Szül.: 1892. 5. Gál Illésné Jiricsek Rózsa. 6. Mihalik Jánosné Tóth Ilona. Szül.: 1908. 7. (L. 5. sz.) Kiegészítő közlés./B. Gál Illésné. 8. Bán Sándorné Tóth Veronika. Szül.: 1910. IV. 26. Gödöllő. Megh. 1980. Gödöllő. 9. Hervey Gézáné Nagy Yvette. 10. Horváth Júlia. Szül.: 1907. IX. 22. Gödöllő. 11. Kriesch Tamás. Szül.: 1909. V. 22., Gödöllő. 12. Janók Mária. Szül.: 1907. IV. 22. Hatvan. 13. Czakó Lászlóné Pesti Mária. Szül.: 1906. IX. 4. Gödöllő. 14. Rosenberg Pálné Rózsa Gizella. Szül.: 1910. ápr. 25. Gödöllő. 15. Mravik Vincéné Kralovics Gabriella. 16. Maszlagi Gézáné (1. 3. sz.) Kiegészítő közlés/B. 17. Hornyák Gyuláné Sándor Margit. Szül.: 1906. Gödöllő. 18. Dr. Dénes Jenő. Szül.: 1909. Kobelsdorf. Az anyaggyűjtést — magnetofonfelvételek készítésével — 1977—1981 között végeztük. Az interjúk magnetofonfelvételeit és ezek teljes szövegét (leírását) a Gödöllői Városi Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény adattárában helyeztük el. A gyűjtő- és feldolgozó munkában való részvételért köszönettel tartozom Deáky Zitának, Papp Júliának és Fercsik Erzsébetnek. PÓLÓN YI, PÉTER: RECOLLECTIONS ON THE GÖDÜLLÖ ARTISTS' SETTLEMENT In spring of the year 1981, in Gödöllő (Pest County) a permanent exhibition was inaugurated on the one-time Gödöllő artists' settlement. The exhibition offers a view, more complete than any earlier attempt, of the versatile activity of the masters who created the most important studio of Hungarian secessionist art. The colony, the foundation of which was connected with names of Aladár Körösfői Kriesch and Sándor Nagy, lived its golden age between 1901 and 1920. Duringthese two decades Gödöllő not only offered home to 16 artists but it gave them also a rank qualifying their proper place on an intellectual level. The members of the settlement, working under the aegis of the so-called „Gesamtkunstwerk" — the endeavour of secessionist art to join all genres of art into a unity — cultivated almost all branches of fine art and decorative art from painting of frescoes to illustrations of books, from designing of furniture to weaving of carpets. Their school for plastic art and their architectural activity also were of importance. In their ideals, the artists were attached to the pre-Raphaelite movement, to those artists who in the mid-19th century in England tried to revive the traditions and the spirit of craftsmanship in face of the spread of low standard mass production. The Gödöllő artists adapted themselves to the ideas of John Ruskin, spiritual leader of the pre-Raphaelites, and they wanted to develop also the Hungarian decorative art along the same principles. They were romantic idealists, representants partly of John Ruskin's and William Morris's anti-capitalism, partly of Tolstoy's doctrines propagating evangelical life-principles. With the discovery of folk art's innovative potential and treasure of motifs, it was the aim of their association to transform the whole environment and to elevate the everyday life into the realm of beauty. They had a strong faith in the ameliorative power of art having a place both in the inner and the outer world of people and having a social and national mission, and this enabled them to create new and lasting works. The preparatory proceedings to the exhibition were not restricted to the collecting of works of art and of material remains. We also sought out people who personally knew the life and the members of the artists' settlement, and their recollections were recorded on 42 cassettes. Now we publish excerpts from this documentary material mounting up to 400 pages. Although it is mixed in character, the evidence presented by fellow-artists, pu25