Köpröczi Rózsa: A grafikus Szőnyi. Rajzok, vázlatok, tanulmányok (Pest Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága – Szőnyi István Alapítvány, Szentendre – Zebegény, 1996)

RETURN TO THE PEN TECHNIQUE DRAWINGS FROM ITALY "Drawing starts where the beauty of form for its own sake gets across. So it is not a sketch..., but a complete unit that can be neither taken from nor added to, even if it consists of only a few lines". (MAGYAR GRAFIKUSMŰVÉSZET, WRITTEN BY KÁROLY ROSNER. PUBLISHED BY OFFICINA PRESS, BUDAPEST, 1938.) At the end of his life, in the winter of the year before his death Szőnyi took a last beautiful trip to Italy on the invitation of his daughter. Now under the sky of Italy he managed to paint some gouache and tempera pictures, contrary to his first stay in Rome, when, as one of the bursaries of the Roman Hungarian Academy, he spent some months in Rome in 1929, though at that time he was not inspired by the historical environment. During the journey thirty years later, in 1959-1960, the old master rediscovered the beauty of the Mediterranian landscape and the charming atmosphere of the villas around Rome, the recurring antique ruins and the harbour of Fiumiccino. Besides gouache and tempera he took a pen again and returned to the technique of the first period of his career, maybe with the secret purpose of using an etching needle and a copper plate again, so as to give flying moments composed with soft and fine lines a permanent shape. Thus either consciously or instinctively Szőnyi returned to the beginnings. This extraordinarily rich and versatile graphic career is framed by the classicist ideas inspired by antique art. This last period of his could not be accomplished, though he arrived home from Italy with a lot of plans and sketches. He was preparing for a significant exhibition of his works having been created there. However, death unexpectedly put an end to the unfulfilled plans. Only a few laconic pen-and-ink drawings of dramatic strength indicate the direction of the possible trend of this extremely rich and versatile graphic career.