Fine art gallery in Sümeg

enuine commitment, love, passion, lunacy, courage…

Perhaps all these were necessary at the same time when Stephen Gadacsy and his spouse, Julie, both past 70, established the Gadácsi-Szijjártó Fine Art Foundation in 2006 with a momentum surpassing youth.

he goal of the Canadian couple living in Canada since 1957 was to strengthen ties between Canada and Hungary in the field of contemporary visual art.

The Foundation established its permanent CanadianHungarian Fine Art Gallery in the Sümeg Episcopal Palace. Its main supporters were the Municipality of the Town of Sümeg and the Public Foundation for the Episcopal Palace.

Gallery: Püspöki Palota (Episcopal Palace) – 8330 Sümeg, Szent István tér 8.

Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 9.00 AM-5.00 PM Closed on Mondays Website: www.sumegart-canada.hu Email: kanadai.magyar@gmail.com

he Foundation also uses the fine art gallery as a public space that enables local residents, students and other small groups to get acquainted with the Foundation, the gallery, the themes of contemporary exhibitions, the founders, and the historical background of the themes of interest to the Foundation in the form of special History, Art History and Arts classes.

If you, your friends or partners wish to participate in such a special History lesson, If you are an educator and you wish to present the themes touched upon by the Canadian-Hungarian Fine Art Gallery in an authentic setting, please don’t hesitate to contact us at one of our availabilities below:

Gadácsi-Szijjártó Fine Art Foundation 8330 Sümeg, Kompanik Zsófia u. 13.

Phone: +36-87-352-401, +36-70-453-5296 Email: kanadai.magyar@gmail.com www.sumegart-canada.hu

ulie Szijjártó comes from a trader family in Sümeg. Julie and her husband, Stephen Gadacsy have been living in Canada since 1957. The young couple’s shared interest was art. Stephen was a painter himself.

Slowly recovering from their first few very challenging years in Canada, Julie and Stephen turned to contemporary art and opened their gallery downtown Toronto in 1972, where they displayed works of contemporary artists for 16 years. Drawing on their courage, Julie and Stephen moved together with their gallery to Port Dover in the countryside in 1988, to a heritage building built in 1863.

The cosmopolitan well-rounded couple built an extensive network in the field of art, their gallery had its regular patrons who followed the works of art of the artists they sponsored.

In their lifestyle, Julie and Stephen mostly follow European culture. They have taken up the mission of promoting not only contemporary art but also European customs and heritage in their own community.

Julie and Stephen primarily furnished their homes with antique and period furniture and they hosted major contemporary exhibitions as well.

Since 2000, they have been spending four months in their Hungarian home every year.

he couple returned to Hungary more and more often after the change of the regime and nurtured the idea of the establishment of the Gadรกcsi-Szijjรกrtรณ Canadian-Hungarian Fine Art Foundation for years.

They found home in both countries in their lives.

Canada accepted them together with tens of thousands of other refugees, while Hungary always remains their native country that they had greatly missed.

Julie and Stephen pay tribute to their second home country by the popularisation of contemporary Canadian art in Hungary, while they offer their first home country their experience, network of contacts and the popularisation and embracing of contemporary art.

The permanent exhibit of the Gallery entitled Exploration comprises the lithographs of Frederick Hagan (1918-2003), a renowned and outstanding Canadian artist and college professor.

The temporary exhibits of the Foundation also promote the introduction and exposure of artefacts by contemporary artists.

n the autumn of 1956 Canada followed Hungarian events with a heightened awareness. From the approximately 200,000 refugees, 40,000 were accepted by Canada. There were some who could succeed within a short period, but many others greatly struggled with integration.

The discovery of the country, settling into a new life was certainly a challenge for all leaving their countries.

he Gadácsi-Szijjártó couple brought together a remarkable contemporary art collection in Canada.

At the Foundation’s Sümeg Gallery Frederick Hagan’s 55piece lithography (limestone print) series entitled “Exploration” is displayed to the audience. The series depicts certain stages of the exploration of Canada.

(Toronto 1918 - 2003)

rederick Hagan was born in Toronto in 1918.

He took his first steps towards art at his father’s carpentry workshop when he was quite young. Due to the premature death of the head of the family, Frederick dropped out of school to support his mother.

He laboured as a factory worker while he studied drawing and painting in the evening programme of the Ontario College of Art. His drawings were introduced at the Canadian Pavilion of the New York World’s Fair when he was only 21. He became a faculty member at his own school at 28 and retired from there after 37 years. Hagan influenced his community not only as an artist and instructor but also as a human being due to his unique energies and passionate devotion.

In 1985 Frederick Hagan was commissioned by Canada Post to create a series of 16 stamps, reproducing the artist’s 16 oil paintings.

Four stamps were issued per year between 1986 and 1989 under the title ‘Exploration of Canada’.

While creating the paintings Hagan traveled extensively; he read, researched and prepared countless sketches. Travelling the country, he conceived ideas and feelings on Canada, its history, regions and people. Later on, he processed these to create the 55-piece series lithography portfolio called ‘Exploration’: a unique, challenging, symbolic and often enigmatic depiction of Canadian history.

These 55 lime stone prints comprise the permanent exhibit of the Foundation entitled ‘Exploration of Canada’.

The material of the permanent exhibit The content of the ‘Exploration’ portfolio is closely linked with the theme of the stamps deriving from the moods, spiritual experiences evoked by explorers.

Structurally, three lithographs belong to the theme of each stamp:  the first one shows the landscape of the scene of the event  the second one depicts the event displayed on the stamp and its main participants  the third one is the personal experience and evaluation of the artist Hagan presents the discovery of Canada from about 1200 BC through the Medieval Norsemen, the Aboriginals, the Cabot landing in the 15th Century to the conquest of the Hudson Bay. He demonstrates the trade relations of settlers and the prevalence of Christianity in the midst of 17th century events depicted as exploration. The next sections of the exhibit lead up to the 20th Century through the Hudson Bay Company becoming dominant in the 18th Century.

agan regularly exhibited at the gallery of the Gadácsy couple from 1978. Today his pictures can be found at Canada’s most important galleries, museums, university, corporate and private collections.

The Gallery

in Port Dover

o the best of the Foundation’s knowledge, the collection of the Gadácsy-Szijjártó couple is the only Frederick Hagan collection in Hungary and the largest collection in Europe that was created during the artist’s most momentous period.

To show their respect, the Hagan family enriched the collection with further creations by their father Fred, while showing gratitude to the founders for their efforts in popularising Canadian and Hungarian contemporary art.

József Miklós Halmy Halmy was born in Putnok, in Borsod County in 1929. He immigrated to Canada in 1952. He continued his studies at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto where he was a student of Fred Hagan. He regularly exhibited at the Gadatsy Gallery. His works of art can be found at the museums of Miskolc and Debrecen.

Tibor Nyilasi

Nyilasi was born in Kesztölc in 1936. He has been living in Canada since 1957. His works have been displayed in several collections including the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle in England, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Christian Museum in Esztergom and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Nyilasi was also Hagan’s student.

Gábor Gerlóczy

Gerlóczy was born in Budapest in 1964. His first master was his uncle, Gedeon Gerlóczy, the savior of Csontváry paintings. He is member of the Association of Artists in Nagykovácsi, the Sociomemory Workshop, The Group of Six and the Hungarian Artists’ Public Benefit Association.

The artistic ambition of the Group of Six is to provide individual responses to cultural globalism jointly as a specially formed small community.

Members of the Group of Six:

Ildikó Gaszner, Gábor Gerlóczy, Zoltán Molnár-Göb, Andrea Páczelt, Ferenc Somogyi, Csaba Vladár, Krisztina Vladár and Tibor Zátonyi.

ne of the goals of the Foundation is to organise temporary exhibitions, arts meetings, exchanges of experience, youth programmes, which may also strengthen Canadian-Hungarian ties in the field of contemporary art.

he Gallery of the Foundation introduced new services in 2014: the board of trustees organise and host special history and art history classes, discussions related to the themes of the exhibitions.

oday Sßmeg is not only a popular touristic destination because of its castle. More and more visitors tour the downtown area and discover the Franciscan Church and Monastery famous for its pilgrimages, and the parish church decorated with Maulbertsch frescos, often referred to as Hungary’s Sistine Chapel, as well as the Episcopal Palace. The permanent exhibitions at the Palace offer enjoyable recreation not only to those interested in culture. Its courtyard, ancient walls offer a historic atmosphere of several hundred years to please visitors.

It is getting more and more widespread that the Palace was the summer residence and sometimes even home of bishops from VeszprĂŠm, a city boasting Episcopal coronation rights. Nowadays, however, guests prefer to crown their leisure time with a joyful wine tasting at the Episcopal Cellar, enriched by gastronomical delights.

Püspöki Palota (Episcopal Palace) 8330 Sümeg, Szent István tér 8. www.puspokipalota.hu

Palota Pince (Episcopal Cellar) 8330 Sümeg, Szent István tér 10. www.palotapince.hu For further information on programmes in Sümeg contact Sümeg and Regions

TDM

www.sumeginfo.hu

Glenhyrst Art Gallery Brantford Canada

The Municipality of Sümeg 8330 Sümeg, Béke tér 7. www.sumeg.hu

Gadácsi-Szijjártó Fine Art Foundation 8330 Sümeg, Kompanik Zsófia u. 13.

Canadian-Hungarian Fine Art Gallery Episcopal Palace 8330 Sümeg, Szent István tér 8. www.sumegart-canada.hu