About the research

THE "GREAT GENERATION" OF HUNGARIAN GRAPHICS AND THE ARTIST’S COLONY OFSZOLNOK
A comparative research of the works of Margit Ágotha, Mihály Gácsi and CsabaRékassy

The Damjanich János Museum has won a three-year OTKA research grant for implementation between 2024 and 2026, The "great generation" of Hungarian graphics and the Artist’s Colony of Szolnok. A comparative research of the works of Margit Ágotha, Mihály Gácsi and Csaba Rékassy (reference number: K 147364). This large-scale research project focuses on the oeuvres of three artists: Margit Ágotha (1938–2015), Mihály Gácsi (1926–1987) and Csaba Rékassy (1937–1989). What they have in common is that all three worked primarily with the tools of artistic graphics, their careers unfolded during a specific period of socialist art policy, and all of their work was strongly linked to the Artists' Colony of Szolnok. All three were strongly connected to the traditional visual forms of European ancient Christian culture, drawing their themes from ancient mythology and the Bible, which they reinterpreted in light of the current Cold War conditions. Their extraordinary technical skills also followed the style of the old masters. Their archaic magical realism stood at an equal distance from the aspirations of the neo-avant-garde and the decorative modernism of "official" art. The aim of this research is to explore, present, and embed these three oeuvres in the Hungarian and universal art of the period.

The processing of oeuvres takes place at three levels:

1. Biographical: data-based clarification of artistic careers;
2. Comparative: comparative, iconographic analysis of the three oeuvres;
3. Iconological: interpreting ancient and Christian iconographic motifs reinterpreted in the artists' oeuvres in the context of Hungarian and international fine arts of the period, thereby exploring their broader iconological meaning.

The graphic artists examined share common artistic aspirations:

1. the emphasis on printed graphics as an artistic medium;
2. use of archaic (medieval-renaissance, folk) formal language;
3. figurative-narrative style of storytelling;
4. modernized, updated processing of classical ancient Christian iconographic forms;
5. grotesque, (self)ironic tone.

The research group aims to differentiate the overall picture of art during the Kádár era by comparing graphic works with other branches of fine art and placing them within the institutional system of artists' colonies of the period. Their basic hypothesis is that the motivic and iconographic richness of the visual arts between 1957 and 1989 can best be examined through graphic art, focusing on the works of the artists in question. Their fundamental questions concern how the artists of the period (as exemplified by the three artists highlighted) rethought traditional ancient Christian iconographic themes. How can these be embedded in the broader national and universal artistic endeavours of the period?

The art historical significance of researching this topic lies in the fact that it concerns three outstanding artists whose oeuvre has hardly been explored. The research goes far beyond the analysis of the three artists' oeuvres, as its findings contribute to a deeper and more nuanced exploration of art during the Kádár era as a whole, and to a clearer understanding of the role and significance of local centres within it. Since these are figurative-narrative graphic artists whose work was strongly linked to European ancient Christian mythology, the educational horizon of the research is emphasized, which exemplifies the possibility of individual processing of traditional themes for the younger generation, while also providing an opportunity to learn about classical graphic techniques. Therefore, the results of the research are not only published on scientific platforms, but their use in museum education is also an important goal.

Head of Research Group:

Dr. habil. Emese Révész, art historian, head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art History at ELTE

Permanent staff participating in the research:

Dr. Gyöngyvér Horváth, art historian, curator, independent researcher
Ágnes Képiró, art historian and museologist, employee of the Damjanich János Museum in Szolnok
Mária Madár, art historian and museologist, employee of the MNMKK Petőfi Literary Museum

Colleagues from the Damjanich János Museum assisting the research team:

Brigitta Baloghné Borbély, Krisztina Barláné Kulánda, Róbert Csiszár, Zoltán Major, Klára Mészáros, Pál Sági, Nándor Szebenyi, Emília Szecskó, Szidónia Székács, Szilárd Széplaki, András Tellér

Our partners:

Márton Hegedüs, Képező Gallery, Attila Rum, Ákos Szender, Artists’ Colony of Szolnoki