The 1904 Christmas Exhibition of the Hungarian Applied Arts Association
The Applied Arts Association opened its Christmas Exhibition in the Museum of Applied Arts in Üllői Road on 3 December 1904. The curator was the architect Aladár Árkay, who came up with an exhibition plan that maintained the spatial unity of the great exhibition court. Above the entrance stood an enormous fountain with sculptural details designed by Géza Maróti (Rintel). The glass cases stood neatly arranged along the walls in marked compartments. Contemporary sources make particular mention of two collections of textile products. One was of bobbin lace made in the village of Soóvár (now the Solivár district of Prešov, Slovakia), discovered by Kornél Divald, and the other was a selection of needle lace made in Halas under the direction of Árpád Dékáni. Gizella Greguss Mirkovszkyné, the renowned exponent of pressed velvet decoration, displayed a whole series of her fine work. A large part of the leatherwork section was the work of Jenő Fischof, one of the longest-standing artists in this field. The most striking piece was a large shade of painted and cut leather made to plans by Sándor Fischof Nagy. Strikingly different in character were leather wallets with multicoloured mosaic-like patterns designed by Ödön Faragó and made by Viktor Tull. The ceramics section was naturally led by the Zsolnay company, although the mushroom-motif glazed pottery by János Petridesz showed remarkable originality. István Sovánka displayed a magnificent collection of multi-layered etched glassware. Károly Mayböhm showed a series of interesting glass pictures, reaching back to the old art of stained glass. Standing out among the many metal items were Oszkár Tarján Huber’s fine metalware and small sculptures and metal works by Ö. Fülöp Beck. Graphics made a modest showing, with work by Károly Csányi, Gyula Hembach and Gyula Tálos. The area where the modern development of Hungarian applied art was most apparent was interior design: three furnished rooms by the architects Guido Hoepfner and Géza Györgyi; a hotel room and an office room by Bálint Fehérkuthy and Lukács Dósa; a bedroom by Miklós Menyhért (Mederl); a bedroom by József Mocsay (Mócsai); a study by Lajos Simay; a bedroom by Béla Pálinkás; three rooms (bedroom, dining room and reception room) by Ödön Faragó; and a dining room, garden suite and primary school classroom furniture (ordered by the City of Budapest) by Ede Toroczkai Wigand, with murals designed by Aladár Körösfői Kriesch. The Hegybánya-Szélakna state children’s toy teaching workshop made a series of modern children’s toys for the exhibition to designs by Vilmos Wessely.
Dr. Éber L. 'A karácsonyi kiállítás' in: Magyar Iparművészet 1905/ 1. szám, 1-24.
by Jessica Fehérvári
