Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 20. (Budapest, 2001)

Zsuzsa GONDA: Walter Crane's Visit to Budapest in the Context of Museums' Acquisitions

ZSUZSA GONDA WALTER CRANE'S VISIT TO BUDAPEST IN THE CONTEXT OF MUSEUMS' ACQUISITIONS The first Budapest exhibition of Walter Crane, held in the Exhibition Hall (Műcsarnok) in 1895, is seen by today's historians of art as a sign of a change, promoted by the Fine Arts Association (Képzőművészeti Társulat) in Hungary's conservative, academic values, as a welcoming gesture indicating a turn towards new tendencies. The exhibitions organised by the Association had featured works by the prominent representatives of Symbolism and Art Nouveau ever since the early 1890s. These included Arnold Böcklin, Franz von Stuck, Fernand Knopff

, Giovanni Segantini and Alphonse Mucha. The official proceedings of the Association describe Walter Crane's exhibition as one that "was a remarkable moral success."

1 No purchases, however, are known to have been made at the time, and the few reviews that appeared were made to appear rather insignificant in comparison with the critical reception accorded to Crane's 1900 exhibition.

2 The visit Walter Crane paid to Budapest with his family and his introduction to the Hungarian public at the Museum of Applied Arts is one of the most amply documented events in the artistic life of the period. This is how Kálmán Rozsnyay, the organiser of the exhibition, recalled those busy autumn days of 1900: "It happened when I brought Walter Crane and his family to this fair country of Hungary. We travelled around Transdanubia, the Plains and the beauteous land of Transylvania. The master had his share of banqueting, toasts, fine and poor pictures, gala performances, rides in coachesand-four, mounted escorts and big bouquets."

3 The description given by Lewis F. Day in the pages of the Art Journal is not without some irony when the English artist characterises the event as something taken right out of a medieval chronicle.

4 The appreciation accorded to the exhibits was all but eclipsed by the attention with which the master's personal presence was surrounded. Crane addressed an audience assembled at the Lipótváros Casino, published an article in the journal Magyar Iparművészet (Hungarian Applied Arts) and visited Pécs, Szeged and Transylvania. He met with the foremost notabilities of Hungary's cultural life: the country's writers, artists and politicians. Crane is likely to have been particularly proud of the speech with which he was received by Minister of Religion, Education and Culture Gyula Wlasics, an oration which he quoted verbatim in his memoirs, together with words of welcome addressed to him by the writer Mór Jókai.

5 This he illustrated with a cartoon made by Géza Faragó of the meeting between the artist and the minister: wearing riding boots with spurs and a coat ornamented with Hungarian folk embroidery, Wlasics is raising a flask in his guest's honour.

6 It seems Crane was not quite aware that the hearty welcome extended to him in Hungary was not entirely personal. However, Lewis F. Day noticed that there was more to it than just giving expression to the respect due to an artist: Hungarians had come to perceive the English as "the champions of liberty". At the time of Crane's visit to Hungary, the wish to follow the example of the English was still reconcilable with the country's nationalist aspirations, which were coupled with an anti-Austrian sen-