seCtion 2 | Hunters in Hungarian and Hun Mythology

“dense mists arise, behind, before; ’tis vain the chase to follow more. whilst, unaware, the men pursue, the prey hath vanished far from view. ” (János Arany, The Legend Of The Wondrous Hunt, 1863, excerpt. trans. e. d. butler)

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AlAdÁr körösfői-kriesCH (buda, 1863 – budakeszi, 1920) Ancient Hungarian Bison Hunt

ca. 1899 oil on canvas, 85 × 99.5 cm signed lower right: Szives emlékül [As a fond reminder] Kriesch Aladár gift, 1939 inv. no. 7738 Hungarian national gallery, Collection of 19th- and 20th-Century painting

Hungary ’ s history has been intensely researched since the first half of the nineteenth century. Aladár körösfői-kriesch, head of the gödöllő artists ’ colony, was keenly interested in the nation’ s pre-history, devoting particular attention to Hungarian and Hun mythology. one of the central motifs of the Magyar saga, the wondrous stag, was first depicted by him in a sketch of 1897. in the planar, decorative picture, built around patches of colour, the figures ’ violent movements lead towards the white stag, which flees ethereally. körösfői-kriesch enclosed the work in an ornamental frame decorated with fourpetalled flowers reminiscent of medieval art.

Ágnes ferenCZi

literAture: keserü in németh 1981, vol. i, 433; gellér in gellér, g. Merva, and őriné 2003, 5–26; földi in őriné 2016, 73–76.

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AlAdÁr körösfői-kriesCH (buda, 1863 – budakeszi, 1920) The Wondrous Stag (Hunting)

1897 watercolour, indian ink and tempera on paper, 353 × 465 mm signed lower left: KA 897 - Vadászat – [Hunting] gift of pál Majovszky, 1935 inv. no. 1935-2805 Hungarian national gallery, Collection of prints and drawings

similar in theme and conception is the oil sketch of the Ancient Hungarian Bison Hunt, a secco he was commissioned to produce in 1897 for the dining room of the Hungarian parliament building. körösfői-kriesch chose a scene from The Death of King Buda, an epic written by János Arany: in the diagonally structured, multi-figured, and highly dynamic composition, Attila, mounted on horseback with his spear in his hand, rushes to rescue buda, who has fallen to the ground. After numerous revisions, the monumental work finally achieved its final form on the wall of the parliament in 1902.

Ágnes ferenCZi

literAture: keserü in németh 1981, vol. i, 433; gellér in gellér, g. Merva, and őriné 2003, 5–26; földi in őriné 2016, 73–76.

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bArnAbÁs Holló (Alsóhangony, 1865 – budapest, 1917) Drinking Hunter

ca. 1900 bronze, 37 cm signed on the base: HOLLÓ B purchased from the artist’ s widow, 1927 inv. no. 56.300-n Hungarian national gallery, Collection of sculptures, Coins and Medals

the Drinking Hunter was originally made for a competition to design a public fountain; this is a bronze version of the fountain. in his will, lajos Millacher, a citizen of budapest and a producer of sparkling water who died in 1892, left the capital 20,000 forints to erect a fountain in his memory. Millacher stipulated that the commissioned sculptor should be chosen by tender and that the artist should display the name of the donor, who specified in his will that the work should be called the “lajos fountain” . in 1902, twenty-seven sculptors submitted a total of thirty-five entries, and after a lengthy jury selection process and further rounds, barnabás Holló was chosen to create the fountain in June 1903, ahead of many leading sculptors of the time, such as gyula Jankovits, richárd füredi, József dankó and ede Markup. barnabás Holló was himself a passionate hunter, who used animal motifs even in his first exhibited works. His early successes led to many commissions to produce sculptures for buildings (including a relief commemorating the founding of the Hungarian Academy of sciences, and a work on ferenciek square celebrating Miklós wesselényi rescuing victims from the danube flood), but he returned to his favourite subject with a trained hand when modelling the lajos fountain, combining it with a Hungarian male topos from the time of the Hungarian Conquest.

ZoltÁn subA

literAture: Magyar Szemle 1902, 564; Alkotmány 1903, 8; Pesti Hírlap 1903, 9; Művészet 1917, 76–78.

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kÁroly senyei (sCHMidt) (pest, 1854 – budapest, 1919) Horn Blower

ca. 1900 bronze, 57 cm signed on the base: Senyey purchased from a private collection, 1933 inv. no. 52.146 Hungarian national gallery, Collection of sculptures, Coins and Medals

the creator of the statues of the Hungarian kings Saint Stephen and Andrew II, which grace the Millennium Monument on Heroes ’ square in budapest, is mostly known for his genre pieces and his building sculptures. the Horn Blower, featured in this volume, belongs to the former group. károly senyei’ s sculpture is first found among the purchases made at the winter exhibition in the Art Hall: the bronze statue with the kuruc bugle was bought by kálmán benkő, a member of the national Hungarian society of fine Arts, in 1899. the work was subsequently exhibited under the title Kuruc at the exhibition universelle in paris in 1900, as an exemplar of Hungarian applied art, specifically bronze casting, and was produced in the beschorner foundry in budapest. the historical version of the tárogató, the turkish pipe, which became popular during the rákóczi war of independence in the early eighteenth century, was used both as a war bugle and for entertainment. the instrument was inextricably linked to kuruc cavalrymen, so the secondary political meaning of the sculpture cannot be ignored, given that when the work was made, Hungary was still part of the dual Monarchy: in this regard, its inclusion in an international exhibition can be seen as a declaration of independence. when and why the statue was renamed from Kuruc to the more “neutral” Horn Blower are valid, but as yet unanswered questions.

ZoltÁn subA

literAture: Műcsarnok 1900, 9; györgyi 1900, 236; kenyeres 1982, vol. ii, 619; ortutay 1982, 213.

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györgy VAstAgH Junior (kolozsvár [Cluj-napoca, romania], 1868 – budapest, 1946) Ancient Hungarian Rider (Mounted Archer)

1938 bronze, 45 cm signed on the base: Vastagh György / 1938. VIII. 31. transferred from the royal Castle, budapest, 1952 inv. no. 52.946 Hungarian national gallery, Collection of sculptures, Coins and Medals

györgy Vastagh the younger, known for his anatomically accurate, portrait-like sculptures of animals, attached great importance to the precise representation of details in all his works. for the sake of authenticity, he modelled most of his equestrian sculptures after the traditional horse rider of Hortobágy (known in Hungarian as csikós). in the case of the Ancient Hungarian Rider, however, in the absence of an authentic model, he based the horseman’ s costume and weapons on nineteenth-century romantic ideas. the figure of the horse was copied from the sculpture of a neighing horse he had made in 1908 in bábolna, depicting an Arabian stallion named gazal. the first versions of the sculpture were made in 1910, when the city of Mukachevo commissioned a large-scale equestrian sculpture of prince Árpád. Although the outbreak of world war i prevented him from completing the life-size sculpture, he revisited the composition from time to time, implementing minor alterations. His halflife-size version, complete with spear, was erected as a public sculpture under the title Valiant Örkény. Another version, larger than lifesize and cast in aluminium, adorned the tomb of gyula gömbös. the bronze held in the Hungarian national gallery once decorated the living quarters of Admiral Horthy and his family in the royal palace. Another sculpture on a similar scale, in which the rider holds a spear instead of a shield, is known as The Vanguard of the Hungarian Conquerors.

dorottyA gulyÁs

literAture: szatmári 2001, 457–72; ujvári 2001, 105–24; barla-szabó 2004; szőllősy 2009, 5–12; 35; 79.

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gyulA MAugsCH (besztercebánya [banská bystrica, slovakia], 1882 – Austria, 1946) Ancient Hungarian Archer

first half of the 1940s bronze, 42.5 cm signed on the base: Maugsch purchased from the artist, 1944 inv. no. 56.473-n Hungarian national gallery, Collection of sculptures, Coins and Medals

Although he established his reputation as an animal sculptor during his twelve years in germany, besides his depictions of dogs, bears and other creatures, gyula Maugsch also created figural compositions and portraits. the Ancient Hungarian Archer can only be considered a “hunting portrait” if we set aside the circumstances under which it was made: the title was composed much later, combining the term “ancient Hungarian” , which appeared in press reports in the 1940s, with the movement depicted. the work was created at the height of wartime irredentism, and can thus be regarded as a propagandistic piece rather than a historicising genre sculpture. the Ancient Hungarian was first mentioned in connection with the spring exhibition in the kunsthalle in 1943, so in the absence of more precise information we must assume it was made in the first half of the 1940s. in line with the cultural and political aspirations of the war period, the image of a Hungarian warrior from the Age of Conquest – a popular and enduring theme since the Millennium exhibition of 1896 – was clearly intended to appeal to art lovers in Hungary ’ s hinterland; in this context, the ancient Hungarian hunter taking aim with his bow is presented as an archer pursuing the enemy.

ZoltÁn subA

literAture: szentmiklóssy 1930, 839; Szépművészet 1943, 91.

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ViolA berki (kiskunhalas, 1932 – budapest, 2001) Ancient Hungarian Hunting

1971 oil on canvas, 110.5 × 118.5 cm signed lower right: Berki Viola transferred from the Ministry of Culture, 1974 inv. no. MM74.156 Hungarian national gallery, Contemporary Collection

originally from kishunhalas, Viola berki painted in oil, watercolour, and ink, made pencil drawings, etchings and silkscreen prints, illustrated storybooks and magazines, and is also known for her mosaic works. she studied with géza fónyi and was later influenced by her time at the artists ’ colony in szentendre and the art of dezső korniss and Jenő barcsay. berki derived her forms from Hungarian folk art, the italian trecento and persian miniatures. Her decorative, colourful fantasy world of stylised figures recalls the atmosphere of the works of istván pekáry, Vladimír szabó, and Arnold gross. the bible and history were further sources for her mythical, narrative scenes. the artist’ s painting Ancient Hungarian Hunting depicts a traditional hunting scene in a vividly coloured landscape: the hunters of the Age of Conquest hunted deer on horseback, ambushing them with bows, and aided by dogs. Viola berki made the picture for the 1971 world Hunting expo. in the accompanying exhibition at the Art Hall, classical art was represented by paintings from the smithsonian institute in washington, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century flemish and dutch works from the Museum of fine Arts, and Hungarian works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries held by the Hungarian national gallery, while the contemporary selection included contributions by artists from sixteen countries.

Adrienn prÁgAi

literAture: Budapest 1971, 70; dévényi 1973, 520–21; brestyánszky 1984, 6; szűcs 2012, 26–32; kovács 2013, 6–35, 72.

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