Gömöry Judit – Veszprémi Nóra - Szücs György szerk.: A Művészház 1909–1914, Modern kiállítások Budapesten (A Magyar Nemzeti galéria kiadványai 2009/2)

FÜGGELÉK - András Zwickl: "The House of Modern Art"

its shows to select pictures for purchasing, most of which were to enrich the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts. Several important works found their way into museums from the exhibitions the Artists' House had arranged; for example, at the Rippl-Rónai retrospective, not only did the Museum of Fine Arts procure (My Grandmother) but so did the Municipal Museum, the predecessor of the Municipal Picture Gallery (My Father - My Mother). It is worth taking a look at the prices of the exhibits and so obtain a more realistic picture of the art market of the time. In the1

912 catalogue (April 12), Béla Kádár's large-scale compositions (e.g. Pnmavera) were priced at 1,000 crowns, which was the limit annual prizes could reach. The small-scale pictures of József Egry were on sale for 250 crowns (e.g. Clowns; April 5), as were the smaller identifiable paintings. Sándor Ziffer's The Pont Neuf in Pans, which had been exhibited at the 1911 Salon des Indépendants was also offered for 250 crowns, while a larger picture with a like theme, Detail of the Seine in Paris was valued at 500 crowns (April 8); Jenő Feiks' coffee-house interior, Billiards Room, was on sale for 700 crowns according to the catalogue (April 15). Their price levels are made palpable if compared to earnings and their purchasing value. The average salary of a Budapest school headmaster was 535 crowns a month, with which he could buy a sizeable Ziffer landscape or even two smaller paintings by Egry; the 300-crown monthly pay of "ordinary teaching staff" in Budapest could buy one Egry. "Other teaching staff" who would earn but 90 crowns a month could only afford graphics: Margit Vészi's caricature of Max Reinhardt was on sale for 35 crowns at the first group show in December 1909. The papers of the times advertised men's suits for such a price, and a room could be rented for a monthly sum like this. In comparison with the one-crown entrance fee of the Artists' House exhibitions, one could have a kilo of coffee or a gramophone record for 2.50. According to the acquisitions records of the two museums, paintings were bought 20% less than advertised. Out of exhibition season, the Artists' House attempted to sell works primarily through "summer fairs", but used other marketing strategies, too. An advertisement in the magazine Interieur declared that a task of the "Interieur Company" was "the sale on commission of the juried artworks of the Artists' House under the supervision of its board." Like OMKT and the National Salon, the Artists' House also tried to find a market for its associated artists in country towns. As there were no shows in the Artists' House in the summer, it was at this time that Rózsa tried extend the activities of the society to the country. Having gained experience as the secretary of the National Salon, he organised society sections and travelling exhibitions in various towns. Members of the Artists' House exhibited their work in Kolozsvár and Nagyvárad in 1910 and Ungvár (now: Uzhhorod, Ukraine) in 1912, and, according to reports in local papers, art-lovers, having set up their local sections, made purchases of the exhibits. A year after the travelling exhibition in South Hungary (now: Serbia) in the winter of 1911-12, the Artists' House arranged travelling shows for József Pechán and Ferenc Medgyessy joining him in February and March 1913. Collectors had an outstanding role in the history of the Artists' House. Lending works from their collections, they contributed to the coming into being of several shows: the material of the Impressionist Exhibition came exclusively from Hungarian collectors. Among them, Marcell Nemes regularly lent works for the various displays, and was elected to the board of the society in 1913; Adolf Kohner, who loaned significant works from his collection for the Impressionist Exhibition, helped the society obtain temporary rooms in club of Erzsébet City when it was forced to leave its showroom in Váci utca. The Artists' House also arranged auctions, selling by the works bid for instance in the estate of the third most important lender of the Impressionist Exhibition, Béla Janossy, in September 1913. Back in 1911, the Oriental Exhibition and the retrospective of János Tornyai had ended with auctions. Patrons also founded prizes: at a dinner party organised in the honour of Pál Szinyei Merse in May 1912, "Leó Lánczy, member of the Upper House, set upa 5000-crown foundation, and Member of Parliament György Sacelláry offered the Artists' House two prizes of 2000 crowns each for awarding a painter and a sculptor." Marcell Nemes was also among the sponsors of lesser prizes. Among the patrons, Count Géza Teleki significantly contributed to the finances of the society: he came to its rescue during its first crisis, covering its expenses when it ran a loss due to arrears of membership fees. Rent for its showroom being costly, purchasing a venue of its own seemed to be a solution, though it would lay heavy burdens on the society. When it purchased the late Count Jenő Zichy's palace in the neighbourhood of the College of Fine Arts for a sum of 400,000 crowns in 1912, it was again Count Teleki who provided a loan of 200,000 crowns. Large amounts were also spent on rebuilding the palace. The plans were made by architect László Vágó, a member of Artists' House board and a regular loaner of paintings for its exhibitions. Leaders of the society entertained high hopes that the palace would be a source of income: the society moved into only half of the building as it proved too big for its purposes, and intended to lease it for a new Artists' Club. In March 1912, there were stories in the press of establishing a club in relation to buying the Zichy Palace, though there was