Károly Markó in Budapest
The Hungarian National Museum has in its galleries the work of the 19th century Hungarian painter Károly Markó in the exhibition From Myth to image, which will be open to the public until October 2nd. The exhibition is commissioned by Hessky Orsolya, Bellák Gábor and Drago Zoltán and its a product of the cooperation of museums in Barcelona, Vienna, Bratislava, Copenhagen and Prague, as well as public and private collections that put forward to the disposal of the museum works of high value.
The exhibition enters the work of Markó in his mature phase, when he establishes his own style after his artistic experience in Italy and he comes close in a definitive way to European contemporary painting.
Károly Márko, known as “The Old Man”, was born in Levoce, currently Slovakia, in 1791. He studied in the Arts Academy in Vienna and in the Rome Academy, where he transformed into the most outstanding artist in landscape painting that was formed in that academy. His grandeur trespassed the borders of Europe, being considered by experts as the artifice of the Hungarian painting school and the artist of major influence and significance.
Following the fashion of the time, Markó spent large parts of his life in Italy, where a large amount of the European artists got together attracted by the art development there. Due to the valuation of his work, he was named a member of the Academy in Florence, Venice and Arezzo,. where he left a school that followed his composing, lighting and thematic lines.
He was also invited to give class in the San Carlos Academy in Mexico as a teacher of landscape due to his exquisite work of luminosity, color and composition. But despite the tempting offer, he decided to hand over the invitation to his disciple, Landesio, who transmitted the formation that hed received by Markó in his painting classes.
Markós painting took scenes that put as a pretext a scene of mythology or religiousness to outline and fixate the attention to the landscape, which is represented in panoramic views dominated by warm lights and nature details.
The influence that Markó had among the painters of the time was huge. The handling of the light in his landscapes and the composition make of his work one of the most interesting ones of the 19th century, to the point that through Landesio he left his print among the painters that transported the Roman landscape to the Mexico Valley and its volcanos, like various heirs of this tradition did.
Visegrád is one of the most famous paintings by Markó because it captures in an incredible way the luminosity of the mountain landscape that is located in the sinuosity of the Danube, in Hungarian territory. This painting is considered a cultural icon in the region and it reproduces with authenticity the peculiar topography of the place.
For more information: http://www.mng.hu/en/exhibitions/marko_nyito_en
Nancy Guzman
If you dont know the work by Károly Markó, I invite you to come to the Hungarian National Museum if youre around the area and enjoying apartments in Budapest There you can see that landscapes that made this painter famous.
Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Paintings, watercolors, prints and drawings in Budapest
The Hungarian National Museum exhibits until the 16th of October its collection of prints and drawings from the period of 1900-1925. The exhibition “Painting on paper” is curated by Eszter Földi and Ferenc Zsákivics, it contains more than eighty thousand books and documents that due to the fragility of the paper cannot be on permanent display.
However, these works will be shown during the next six years, with six-month renovation on each one to accompany the permanent exhibition of paintings and sculptures of the twentieth century.
Throughout the historical period covered by this sample, watercolors have a significant presence in the Hungarian art; at least, this is what can be seen in the works and sketches that compose this archive.
Watercolor is a technique that requires great skill and training to achieve proficiency with the paintbrush and the mixing of colors on paper. The works made with this technique are performed in a single session. The difference between watercolor and drawing is that the stain on watercolor replaces the stroke, so it requires much more training in the preparation of colors and sketches.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the art nouveau entered into the art scene and many artists added to this current, which renews the design, drawing, painting and all forms of art. The artists of the city of Gödöllő were those who integrated watercolor sketches and illustrations in line of art nouveau as Mihály Rezso´s illustrations based on a story.
In 1910 watercolor begins to be less used by the Impressionists, despite this, many artists kept the use of techniques that allow the use of watercolor.
The avant-garde artist Gizella Dömötör has several remarkable works of this kind. Dömötör was born in Budapest in 1894 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the same city. Married to the artist Hugo Mund, they both participated actively in the Hungarian avant-garde, by following French modernists and adding themselves to cubism and expressionism. In the 30´s, they immigrated to Argentina.
The interwar time was the most significant period for painting and engraving of the twentieth century in Hungary. The most precious works in terms of aesthetic and artistic value that the National Museum owns belong to this period, because the terrible economic situation of the time was linked with the decline in art sales, as well as the decline of art galleries and markets.
The Surrealists Béla Bán, Endre Bálintc, Lajos Vajda, Margit Anna and Imre Amos recorded the horrors of World War II in watercolors, gouache and ink. Today their works are in the archives of prints and drawings.
For more information http://www.mng.hu/en/exhibitions/grafika_akvarell_en
Nancy Guzman
This exhibition is a great alternative to learn the history and culture of Hungary and Europe through art, so if youre in apartments in Budapest come to appreciate this wonderful collection of watercolors and prints.
Translated by: Hans
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