Veszprémi Nóra - Jávor Anna - Advisory - Szücs György szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 2005-2007. 25/10 (MNG Budapest 2008)

NEW ACQUISITIONS, NEW RESULTS - Zsuzsanna BAKÓ: Soma Orlai Petrics: The Portrait Gallery of the Mihálkovics Family

2. 3. Katalin Keserű lists - apart from a handful a religious pictures, folklore conversation pieces and numerous illustrations - over seventy portraits.

1 With their meticulously detailed mode of presentation and idealizing attitude, these portraits bear the characteristics of classicizing romanticism and Biedermeier, with a few exceptions that have a realistic tone, such as: My Mother or the portrait of the poet Mihály Vörösmarty. The series of pictures of the Mihálkovics family are unique in 19

th-century Hungarian portraimre. Ancestors galleries were more customary in the 17

th and 18

th centuries, and were meant to foster the reverence for ancestors and emphasize the importance of kin. The best known among these are the portrait galleries of Nádasdy and the Esterházy families, which depicted members of the families through several generations. Middle-class families took the custom over, though simplified it according to their needs. Instead of representative, full-size portraits with ornate dresses and interiors, they had more puritan, half-size portraits made with neutral backgrounds and, sometimes, attributes denoting profession. Perhaps partly due to financial reasons, such family galleries were not quite so usual, thus the National Gallery holds only one, that of the Pákey family, from the middle of the century, the painter of which is yet unknown.

2 In the autumn of 1854, Orlai and his wife moved from Mezőberény to Pest, where the literary critic Ferenc Toldy introduced him to Mihály Vörösmarty, whom he soon portrayed.

3 As in the case of other painters, it is possible that the successful depiction of a notability brought him further commissions. He certainly painted several portraits in the capital city, though the whereabouts of many of these is unknown. In 1856, he was commissioned by the well-known lawyer János Mihálkovics to paint a series of portraits of his large family.

4 He probably depicted the parents first. The portrait of János Mihálkovics reflects a detached attitude free of idealizing, as he wears moderately ornate attire in front of a neutral background with a scroll of papers in his hand referring to his profession. (111. 1) The portrait of his wife adheres to the Biedermeier custom of the period: her restrained elegance is emphasized by the ribbon in her hair, the discreet jewels in her neck and round her wrists, the shawl around her waist eking out her dark dress. (111. 2) The tone of the picture is slightly sentimental as female portraits usually were at the time. The couple had four children, the youngest Árpád, whom Orlai, in Biedermeier spirit, painted in a conversation-piece setting. (Colour Plate VII) The child has a parrot taken out of its cage on his finger, and looks up at it bubbling over with emotion. The portrait of Heléna Mihálkovics belongs to the sentimental vein of Biedermeier: aged about ten, the little girl lovingly cuddles the symbol of innocence, a dove. (111. 5) This motif is well-known from the dove-post depictions of the period, like those of József Borsos and Miklós Barabás. Set in a landscape scene, the portrait of Tivadar Mihálkovics is somewhat different. (111. 4) The hat thrown on the ground and the hare squatting at his feet suggest naturalness, and the attitude of the picture combining portrait, conversation piece and landscape recalls the style of the Vienna painter Ferdinand Waldmüller, under whom Orlai had studied in 1846. The oldest child was the then 12-year-old Géza Mihálkovics (1844-1899). (111. 3) Now, his portrait is devoid of both conversation-piece setting and idealization. With its detached mode of seeing, the picture seems to anticipate the future destiny of the lad, him