Öriné Nagy Cecília (szerk.): A gödöllői szőnyeg 100 éve - Tanulmányok a 20. századi magyar textilművészet történetéhez (Gödöllő, 2009)

Summaries

Summaries 127 Members created by Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch and the Cennini Society founded by his disciples. Their artistic activity, more particularly, the carpets presented in their exhibitions are dealt with in details. Ex-disciples of Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch founded the Cennini Society in 1920. Their art was characterized by a deep religiosity, an uncompromising reverence of the traditions and an extreme humility for art; accordingly, their most common topics were of a religious character executed most of the times as frescoes in churches. Designing and weaving of carpets was for them a sort of "accidental activity" as it is also reflected by the fairly low number of woven pieces on show in their exhibitions. There were only two members of the society who officially had as one of their tasks to design carpets: Antal Diósy and Vince Hende. They relied on the style of Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch and Sándor Nagy both in selecting the subject and in its formulation. The Cennini Society organized in all three independent exhibitions: merely one carpet design was on show in their first exhibition in 1921. The ready carpets, executed by the Textile Workshop appeared only in the second exhibition, in 1922, in the midst of the exhibited paintings and statues. TTte presented carpets, goblin designs as well as carpet designs open for orders to be placed by the public portrayed tragic scenes from Hungarian legends, poems taken from the Hungarian and world literature (Antal Diósy: Kőmíves Kelemenné 'The Wife of Mason Kelemen', Kádár Kata, Szeptember végén 'At the End of September', Dante, Izolde ; as well as Vince Hende: Táj vörös fákkal 'Landscape with Red Trees', Euripides). In their third exhibition (1926), animal figures and rural motifs prevailed. (Antal Diósy: Szarvasos 'Carpet with Deer', Galambok 'Doves', Petőfi /Szeptember végén/'At the end of September' - title of a poem by S. Petőfi/; Vince Hende: Juhászos gobelin 'Gobelin with Shepherd', again in the execution of the Textile Workshop. The art critics of the age were mainly interested in the painting activity of the Cennini Society members, writing but little about the exhibited carpets. After these three exhibitions, the members of the Cennini Society could be heard of only as individuals independent of each other and it is impossible to determine the exact date when the society ceased to exist. *lhe artists later returned to the practice of mural techniques or continued their career as watercolour masters. Of the Cennini Society and the Guild Members, the latter proved to be of longer life. The aim of the Guild Members founded by Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch (in 1913) was to create some kind of a unity among the contemporary artists with extremely different beliefs. Since the cohesive principle of the society was only to believe in art regardless of the style, their exhibitions allowed for the exhibition of fairly variegated pieces. TTie only exceptions to this were the carpets on show, for they were represented solely by the creations of Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch, Sándor Nagy and the Weaver's Workshop of Gödöllő. Although carpets also were on as early as in the Guild Members' first exhibition (1914), in lack of a list, one can only engage in conjectures as to what the term "Hungarian Carpets" may cover. In the Guild Members' second exhibition (1918), again, several carpets represented the Weavers' Shool of Gödöllő. Beside the pieces presenting different techniques, the cycle of Hungarian legends and its treasury of motifs revived on the carpets: Toldi of Sándor Nagy and on that of Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch: Eagles Over the Hero's Grave. TTie Guild Members' third exhibition came to be organized alter the death of Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch and there were no carpets exhibited that year. The products Szarvasos ('carpet with deer'), Virágos ('carpet with flowers'), Rózsás ('carpet with roses') of the Weavers' School of Gödöllő were exhibited in the next exhibition to follow, the carpets with figures appearing again (and last time) in the exhibition of 1924: The work of Sándor Nagy: Tom the Rhymer was exposed at that time. Despite that the society swollen to more than a hundred members organized several independent exhibitions, the latter proved to be last to exhibit carpets also. By this time, goblin-weaving attaining high standards had already lost its importance and its character of being the exclusive branch of applied arts both in the activity of the Guild Members and in that of the Cennini Society, dhere is an upheaval of the carpet as a home-craft in the 1920 s, but the interest will soon decrease and carpet weaving as a home-craft will soon find itself as one of the other common fancy handicrafts. This, on the other hand, resulted in the renewal of goblin weaving afterwards, so that creations were born bringing about new achievements both technically and aesthetically. TTie Guild Members, the Cennini Society and their exhibitions have always been considered as the last bulwarks of traditions, and though the public has always given their achievements a favourite reception, modern trends slowly took over the lead. György Sümegi The Carpet Weaver s Workshop of Kecskemét It was thanks to the impetus of the constructions related to the millennium (e.g. the town hall of Kecskemét by Ödön Lechner) and by way of the pertaining cultural investments that the interest in the new trends of architectural art and in fine arts continued to grow and strengthened in Kecskemét in the one and a half decade preceding the First World War. That the new trends of the Hungarian architectural art should appear in the new modernizing townscape of Kecskemét was an important issue in the program of Mayor Elek Kada. It was a consequence of this that they linked the development of fine arts with the architectural program led by Ödön Lechner who was the standard-bearer of it. His disciples (e.g. Géza Márkus,