The Műbarátok (Friends of Art) exhibition of 1905

This exhibition, held by the Műbarátok Köre (Friends of Art Society) out of its own resources, was a set of interiors making up the home of an art lover. They were joint productions by artists, cabinetmakers, architects and house painters. The designer of the first two rooms, Ede Toroczkai Wigand, was inspired by old thoughts and pictures. His entry hall and dining room reached back to the Biedermeier style. By contrast, for the design of his study, Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch, led by national feelings, drew from the living treasury of folk art. Mariska Undi (Springholz) also breathed village air into her ideas for the woman’s study. Enhancing the haute-bourgeois effect of Wigand’s entrance hall and dining room were Károly Mayböhm’s charming stained glass; Ö. Fülöp Beck’s refined plaques and magnificent pewter vase; János Vaszary’s multicoloured panels; and Sándor Nagy’s etchings. The cabinetmaker József Mocsay (Mócsai) was Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch’s collaborator in executing the study. Körösfői-Kriesch put all his love into this room. Under the friendly beams, a Hungarian-pattern frieze ran round the wall. In the window were geraniums in two rectangular flowerpots by the Gödöllő potter Szimácsek. The windowsill cover was embroidered by Laura Kriesch to a design by her husband Sándor Nagy. The carpets on the floor and the pictures all round the walls were by Aladár Kriesch. On a platform beside the window was a recreation corner, like a little nest, with Kalotaszeg banquet figures on the ceiling above it. The columns were carved by Miklós Schmidt. Mariska Undi (Springholz) designed a study for a female art lover. The wood of the furniture echoed the colours of the meadow and ripe wheat. She made the decoration of the appliqués with wild flower motifs. An abundance embroidered cloths and cushions made the room homely, and Undi was assisted in the handicraft work by her younger sisters Carla and Jolán.

Szentiványi G. 'A műbarátok kiállítása' in: Magyar Iparművészet 1905/4. szám, 198-200.

by Jessica Fehérvári