Majorossy Judit (szerk.): A Ferenczy Múzeum Évkönyve 2014 - Studia Comitatensia 33., Új Folyam 1. (Szentendre, 2014)
Szentendre. Adalékok a Pajor család, a Pajor-kúria és a Ferenczy-család történetéhez - Martos Gábor: Két talált kép „megtisztítása”. Ferenczy Valér ismeretlen nagybányai művei egy magyarországi magángyűjteményből
Studia Comitatensia 2014 - Yearbook of the Ferenczy Museum - New Series 1 — English Summaries Rita KissnéBudai Károly Ferenczy as an Exhibition Organizer From the correspondence of the famous painter Károly Ferenczy (1862-1917) one gets the impression that the artist’s days were overloaded with such activities of art management that distracted him from creative work. Among these tasks, it was especially important for him to arrange that his own paintings and also the works of the Nagybánya (today Baia Mare, Romania) artists representing modern contemporary art would be displayed on proper and quality exhibitions. Fie was aware of the fact that his personal success as well as the artistic taste forming mission of the school in Nagybánya was highly dependent on the convincing force of these exhibitions. Fie had close connections to several displaying institutions and exhibition halls, even accepting offices in some of them as, for example, in Nemzeti Szalon (National Salon) and Művészház (Art House). Ferenczy had an important role in organizing the successive exhibitions of the Nagybánya Artists’ Colony in Budapest (in 1897, 1898, 1899, and 1900) as well as in forming their modern image. The loose way of placing the paintings on the walls avoiding crowdedness and the presence of the plein-air sketches indicated the intension of breaking with the then dominating exhibiting customs of the art halls and galleries. Therefore, as witnessed by the contemporary viewers, the general effect was sparkling and fresh. In 1900 he took part in the organization of the Hungarian section of the World Exhibition in Paris as a member of the decision committee in which he, side by side with István Csók, stood strongly for the proper weight representation of modern painting not fearing and avoiding serious conflicts and potential enemies. In comparison to his dominant artistic authority, he ventured very few, altogether two individual exhibitions to present his own paintings. The first was in the National Salon in 1903 for which he himself designed the invitation card, the billboard and poster (similarly to all the exhibitions of the Nagybánya school in Budapest), and he himself wrote the taciturn preface to the catalogue where he summarized his artistic credo. The strict selection of his oeuvre (for example, no paintings from his time in Szentendre was on display) and their precise installation brought their positive consequences: the critique appreciated and recognized that these paintings in the context of the whole life- work are much more potent than on the overcrowded walls of the Art Hall (Műcsarnok). The affirmative reception brought new proposals for art-related offices and was also followed by the offer of a teaching position in the School of Model-Drawing (Mintarajziskola) in 1905. Ferenczy’s second individual exhibition took place in 1913 in the Ernst Museum and this time the museum staff also helped its realization: the rooms were furnished by Elek Falus, while the catalogue was written by Béla Lázár. Unlike earlier, for unknown reasons, now Ferenczy did not make his graphic design either to the invitation card or to the cover page of the catalogue. Although the exhibition received a good critique, the artist was angered and disappointed by the low attendance and selling rate. Ferenczy also organized exhibitions on request. Such commissions can be interpreted as the acknowledgement of his sophisticated taste, his life-work as a painter and also his public (manager) activity. One of the most important tasks he had received with a long-lasting effect was to take part, besides Ferenc Paczka and Pál Szinyei Merse, in the selection of the paintings for the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Fine Arts on modern Hungarian art that was to be opened in 1906. With choosing several works from those painters connected to the Nagybánya colony, he built the firm basis of the rich Nagybánya collection of the present Hungarian National Gallery. In 1907 the inauguration exhibition in the newly constructed (since then perished) building of the National Salon on the Erzsébet (Elisabeth) Square in Budapest was also entrusted to Ferenczy who, similarly to any other occasions, wanted to provide the highest chance to as many Nagybánya painters as possible regardless of obtaining new enemies. In 1914 he was commissioned to organize and make the selection for the Hungarian section at the Venice Biennial where he again aimed at presenting the Hungarian plein-air painting. This exhibition at the same time was his last, important presence abroad as an artist, since he also exhibited twelve paintings. Nevertheless, the last display of his works in Hungary took place in the Ernst Museum in November 1916, four months before his death, where he exhibited together with his three children (Valér, Béni, and Noémi). Ferenczy’s exhibition strategies well represent his self-conscious attitude of the modern artist who did not commit the presentation of his paintings to the trust of the museum bureaucrats but had his own concept and self-determination to accomplish his artistic goals. 262
