MaNDAHungarian National Digital Archive

By the end of the nineteenth century, most Hungarian painters studied in Munich, where academic painting still dominated artistic training. However, Simon Hollósy and the circle forming around him consciously broke away from these conventions. They believed that painting should be grounded in the direct observation of nature and the sincere expression of human emotion. This virtual exhibition presents the birth of the Nagybánya Artists’ Colony and its defining figures, with particular emphasis on how this community became one of the starting points of modern Hungarian painting.

The Hangya Cooperative was founded in 1896 by Count Sándor Károlyi, one of the leading figures of the Hungarian economic and cooperative movement. The cooperative quickly grew into a nationwide network and played a significant role in modernizing the rural economy. For half a century, Hangya was the most successful example of Hungarian collective organization, starting from an economic foundation and uniting the broadest layers of society, effectively reaching nearly every settlement in Hungary and throughout the Carpathian Basin region.

When we ask what lies behind the success and enduring popularity of The Cherry Orchard, it is worth first considering the sheer scale of its reception: the number of adaptations produced, the countries in which it has been staged, and the frequency of its performances worldwide. It has been performed from America to Europe, Africa, and Japan. In Moscow alone, within the first fifty years after its premiere, it was staged more than 300 times – a remarkable testament to its appeal.

'I draw, therefore I am', goes the motto of Ádám Würtz. He continues: 'I can say this, because as long as I can remember, I have always been drawing.' His name and work may be familiar to many: we recall the purple-toned cover of Lóci óriás lesz by Lőrinc Szabó, or the black-based portrait on The Great Indian Book by James Fenimore Cooper. We may also remember his illustrations for the dramas of William Shakespeare, for The Book of Jonah by Mihály Babits, and those created for the 75th anniversary of the birth of Attila József.

One of Budapest’s most mysterious and iconic districts was Tabán, also known as Rácváros. Clinging to the hillside beneath the Gellért Hill, this neighborhood was shaped by repeated transformations and waves of destruction, until it almost entirely disappeared from the city map. What remains today are only a few structures—and a name: the Rác Bath. This exhibition tells the story of this uniquely fated place.