traveling collector traveling collector

Hungarian Rhapsody

from antiques to avant-garde, budapest’s art scene is like no other city’s. by carol kino

ian Barbizon. In the 20th century Hungar- ian art was influenced by just about every modernist movement, from Secessionism and Cubo-Futurist abstraction to Construc- tivism, Dada and Surrealism. During the political upheavals of the 20th century, many major artists were forced to leave , including Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Victor Vasarely, Andre Kertesz and, later, Judit Reigl, who is now based in Paris. For this reason and because those who stayed often worked in relative isolation, non- often don’t realize that Budapest continued to have an avant-garde. “ and folk art, vernacular costumes and gypsies— that’s all anyone knows,” says Laszlo Jakab Orsos, director of New York’s Hungarian Cultural Center. (To rectify the situation, throughout 2009 he is running a year- Many cities around the world have had the cal apartment building, a Bauhaus-inspired long festival, Extremely Hungary, which dubious fortune of living through “interest- hotel or a facade pockmarked with bullet has already brought a wealth of Hungarian ing times,” as the old saying goes. But what holes from the revolution of 1956. art, photography and music to audiences in makes Budapest unique is that its tumultu- Budapest’s art-historical legacy is a simi- Washington, D.C., and New York.) ous past is still writ large across the city’s larly complex amalgam. “Hungary has its But the avant-garde did continue. face. Forged in 1873 from and Pest, own version of every Western art move- Between the wars artists congregated at cof- two separate towns that faced each other ment, from Impressionism to Art Nouveau fee houses, like the Gresham Group, some- across a bend in the , practically to Bauhaus,” says Andras Szanto, an expa- times referred to as the “post-Nagybanya every vista in this beautiful metropolis triate cultural journalist who now teaches school,” whose members gathered at the cafe seems to offer a lesson in cultural history. at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York. of the Gresham Palace, a glorious 1904– Amid the frilly Gothic architecture of “All of these movements have been absorbed 06 Secessionist office building that is now a Buda’s hilly Castle District, one can still by Hungary, but it’s a little like the butterfly Four Seasons hotel. And under Communism, find Roman ruins and traces of Turkish effect; they’re all changed in the process.” when the “official” school was Social Real- buildings—the latter a legacy of the Otto- Indeed, Hungarian artists have long ism, avant-garde artists continued work- man Empire, which ruled Hungary from focused on fusing Western art trends with ing and showing in secret, making abstract 1541–1699. Meanwhile, east of the Dan- their own Magyar identity. Today the best paintings and experimenting with mail art, ube, Pest is filled with fin-de-siècle squares known are those who were active in the late Fluxus and conceptual photography. and avenues, laid out during the so-called 19th century—Tivadar Csontvary, a mys- To get a sense of Budapest’s art scene, “golden age” of the late 19th and early tical eccentric who made expressive, Sym- past and present, the best place to start

20th centuries, when Budapest and Vienna bolist landscapes, and Mihaly Munkacsy, is probably the down-at-heels Hungarian JU P

were joint capitals of the Austro-Hungarian whose lushly romantic brand of figuration National Gallery in , which has ITERI Empire. Walk down a single street here— won him celebrity in the Paris salons. By an expansive collection of work by Hun- M A

like Andrassy Avenue, a tree-lined bou- the turn of the century the dominant trend garian artists, including Csontvary and G levard known as the Champs-Elysées of was plein air painting, as artists gathered to Munkacsy, as well as Karoly Ferenczy, a ES ; Im Budapest—and you might see an ornately work at colonies outside Budapest, such as leading Nagybanya artist, and Lajos Kas- I acon decorated Art Nouveau cafe, a neoclassi- the Nagybanya, often dubbed the Hungar- sak, a member of the avant-garde. It also nc. Above: Budapest, looking across the Danube from the Pest side; a Zsolnay vase with rooted stems and bunched flowers, 1898–99.

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has offerings from artists who work in in Falk Miksa Street: Judit Virag Gallery, Budapest today, like abstract painters Ist- founded in 1998, and Kieselbach Gallery, van Nadler and Imre Bak. founded by the dealer Tamas Kieselbach in On the Pest side of the river, there’s 1997, eight years after the fall of Commu- the encyclopedic Museum of Fine Arts in nism, directly across the street from BAV. Heroes Square, which has the country’s “It’s symbolic that Kieselbach opened there,” most important historical collection, as says Orsos. “It’s the old world and the new well as work by Hungarians, like the post- world—they’re announcing the new era.” Impressionist painter and ceramicist Jozsef Unlike their New York and London Rippl-Ronai, who spent years working with counterparts, Budapest auction houses tend the Nabis in France. Next door, the Palace to hold only three or four sales a year; the of Art, one of Budapest’s many kunsthalles, rest of the time, they function as galleries. organizes temporary exhibitions, often of “In Budapest, gallery and auction houses modern work. Don’t confuse it with the all- can coexist in the same venue,” says Virag, contemporary Ludwig Museum, founded because “it is very difficult to sell paintings 20 years ago with a big donation from the from a gallery.” Though they do most of Cologne collectors Irene and Peter Ludwig, their business in prewar Hungarian paint- which is located closer to the Danube in the ing, Virag also handles early Zsolnay por- new Palace of Arts. celain and Art Nouveau sculpture, while Many of Budapest’s museums qualify as Kieselbach sometimes shows photogra- artworks themselves, like Mai Mano House, phy, and both have begun making inroads which holds the Hungarian House of Pho- into contemporary art. Kieselbach has also tography. Erected as a home and studio in published several encyclopedic books on 1894 by the 19th-century society photogra- Hungarian , all of which can be pher Mai Mano, its tiled neo-Renaissance viewed on his website. facade is covered with gilded, camera-point- “Before World War II, this was a very ing putti. After spending decades as the head- rich country—there were great collections quarters of the Hungarian Auto Club, it is of art and objets d’art,” says Gabor Ein- now restored and offers temporary shows spach, a partner in Kieselbach. “But dur- of Hungarian photography. Then there is ing socialism the market was monopolized. the miraculous Museum of Applied Arts, The new era started at the beginning of designed by Odon Lechner, known as the the 1990s.” Since then the market has Gaudí of Hungary. Although its collection expanded exponentially. In 1991, according of applied arts ranges from the Middle Ages to Einspach, the total take for the Hungar- to the present, it nearly pales by comparison ian auction market was about 240 million on it,” says Szanto. Locals usually shop at to the building itself, which boasts a spec- forints (about $4 million); by 2008, that Ecseri Market on Saturdays; get there by tacular domed roof covered with Hungarian number was over 8 billion forints (about 5 a.m. and be prepared to bargain, advises folk-art motifs, made from green and gold $36 million)—and more than half that busi- Orsos, adding that “you have to really have ceramic tiles by Zsolnay, a technologically ness is done by Virag and Kieselbach. The to be careful and know what you’re look- ground-breaking Austro-Hungarian com- bulk of the buyers are Hungarian, and the ing for.” However, finds can also be had in pany that still produces pottery today. most desired periods are the late 19th and Falk Miksa Street. While Budapest’s cultural legacy is early 20th centuries. The two record prices Eleni Korani, the co-owner of Ernst Gal- longstanding, its art market is clearly in its are held by Csontvary’s circa 1902 Ren- lery, which specializes in decorative arts as infancy. Under Communism art sales were dezvous (230 million forints, or about $1 well as painting, says the city is still a trea- handled by the auction house BAV, whose million, achieved at Kieselbach in 2006) sure house for Biedermeier, Art Nouveau initials stand for “State Consignment Com- and Munkascy’s Dusty Road I (220 mil- and Art Deco furniture and objects, usu- pany,” according to Orsós. Founded in 1774 lion forints, or about $963,000, in 2003 ally for a fraction of the price that they’d during the reign of the Hapsburgs, it was at Judit Virag.) cost in Vienna or New York. One can also nationalized in 1948. Today, while BAV is The other thing Budapest offers in abun- find early modernist pieces by Hungarian still said to be a great place to find furniture dance is decorative arts and furniture. “It’s Secession and Bauhaus designers, such as and tchotchkes, the real art market action still a place where you’ll find the 188-piece the architect Lajos Kozma and the cerami- is taking place at two new auction houses silver set with somebody else’s monogram cist Istvan Gador, who worked with the

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contributions to 20th-century photography, go there mid-day,” says Winkler, “you get and the scene there remains lively. Vintage super soups and fresh bread and coffee, and Gallery handles modernist and contem- if the weather is nice you can sit outside on porary work, as well as photo-based con- the street in the sun.” Combined with Buda- ceptualism made between the 1960s and pest’s incredible ambience, who could wish 1980s. While work by expatriate 20th- for anything more? century masters like Kertesz and Brassaï is long gone, says Vintage co-owner Pocze, it is possible to find work by their ACB Gallery lesser-known peers, like Martin Munkacsi, 36.1.413.7608 acbgaleria.hu or those who stayed, like Imre Kinszki and Jozsef Pecsi. Vintage also represents sev- Deak Erika Gallery eral 1970s conceptual photographers, like 36.1.302.4927 deakgaleria.t-online.hu Dora Maurer and Hajas Tibor. The city’s other major photography outpost is Nes- Ernst Gallery sim Gallery, and 2007 saw the opening of 36.1.266.4016 ernstgaleria.hu Hungary’s first and only media arts gallery, Videospace Budapest. Extremely Hungary, New York Another way to see art is to contact art- 212.750.4450 extremelyhungary.com ists directly. “It’s still fashionable in Hun- gary for people to go to studios,” says Deak. Hungarian National Gallery “Hungary is very small, so if you meet one 36.1.356.0049 mng.hu person then it’s very easy to get into the whole art circle. And if you like one artist, Judit Virag Gallery you might find that artist in three differ- 36.1.312.2071 mu-terem.hu A 1902 Zsolnay vase with poppies. ent galleries.” Asking a dealer like Deak to take you might be the best bet, since many Kieselbach Gallery Wiener Werkstätte, often priced between artists don’t speak English. Or, if you have 36.1.269.3148 kieselbach.hu a few hundred and a few thousand dollars. an interpreter, suggests the artist Nadler, And because some Viennese Secessionists you can try to contact them directly. “All Ludwig Museum had their work manufactured in Hungary, Budapest artists have websites,” he says. 36.1.555.3444 ludwigmuseum.hu says Korani, it is also possible to find work (He spoke through an interpreter.) by Adolf Loos or Josef Hoffman, though Nora Winkler, a television personality Lumen Gallery occasionally an especially rare piece can’t who hosts a weekly cultural program on photolumen.hu be exported because of heritage laws. Hungarian public television and moon- Over the past 10 years Budapest has lights as the auctioneer for Kieselbach, Mai Mano House of Photography developed a crop of contemporary galleries, suggests finding openings that will give 36.1.473.2666 maimano.hu many of which are also clustered around you the chance to socialize, like the ones Falk Miksa Street. Others are gathered near at ACB Gallery, which hosts a presentation Museum of Applied Arts Buda Castle, on Franz Liszt Square just off and a party every time a new young artist 36.1.456.5107 www.imm.hu Andrassy Avenue, or around Raday Street, is introduced. “The wine is always great near the city’s extravagantly tiled Central there, and these nights usually finish at 3 or Museum of Fine Arts Market Hall. Most seem to specialize. Var- 4 a.m.,” says Winkler, who also publishes 36.1.469.7100 szepmuveszeti.hu fok Gallery, the first to open, specializes in a bimonthly art magazine. “Usually it’s a Hungarian modern masters and mid-career day lost after an opening, and you need to Varfok Gallery artists, like Nadler. Erika Deak Gallery, drink lots of water, but it’s really nice.” (To 36.1.213.5155 varfok-galeria.hu another early outpost, often shows inter- secure an invitation, write and ask to be national, mid-career and emerging artists, added to their mailing list.) Winkler also Videospace Budapest including the highly regarded young figu- likes Lumen Gallery, which shows young 36.20.984.3669 videospace.c3.hu Im acon rative painters Alexander Tinei and Zsu- and emerging photographers. Located on

Vintage Gallery I zsa Moizer. a charming square in Pest, it is run by the nc. Hungary is also known for its important gallerist and his brother, and “when you 36.1.337.0584 vintage.hu

90 art&antiques june 2009