Prohászka László: Polish Monuments - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2001)
The merits of Margo’s work were not recognised in the conservative climate of the aesthetic sensibilities of the 1920s and 1930s. Contemporaries completely failed to understand its symbolism, many even branding the representation of the side figures as immoral. After a tug of war of several years the municipal authorities bought the statue in 1931. Originally intended to be placed in the Horváth Garden, the statue was finally erected in 1938 on Saint Ladislas Square in Kőbánya. It was not to be there for long. It survived the siege of Budapest by the Red Army successfully, but in 1948 it was placed in a store room for reasons which are still unknown. After that it was kept in a variety of places, until finally it was transported to the statue repository by Dunakanyar körút in Szentendre. It was there that Ferenc Pálfalvi, art patron and director of the Gödöllő Music School, came across it. On his initiative, the statue was taken to a building opposite the Grassalkovich Mansion in Gödöllő, which used to house the management office belonging to the manor and which is now a music school. On 13 December 1983, - the anniversary of the day Gödöllő was officially declared to be a town, the Chopin memorial was unveiled in the park forming part of the building complex. A willow grove bordered by a fence serves as a fitting backdrop to the monument, something few public monuments can boast. The music school was named after Chopin in 1990, as a tribute to the presence of the great composer’s statue. The Xth district of Budapest also has a Chopin monument. There is a limestone Chopin bust in Tchaikovsky Park, next to the statue of the composer. Made by János Konyorcsik in modern style, the slightly bigger than life size bust, erected in 1961, portrays the composer as a young man. To provide an appropriate home for the Music Academy, an imposing palace was built on Liszt Ferenc tér in District VI between 1904 and 1907. There is a portrait of Frederyk Chopin in the Art Nouveau entrance hall leading to the great auditorium. A gift from a Polish government delegation, it was placed 29
