Two chapters in Franco-Hungarian art connections: the European School (1945-1948) and the Zugló circle (1958-1968)

Abstract

Akseli-Gall6n-Kallela discovered the Kalevala in Paris, Turgenev wrote his most typical Russian novel in Paris -and I found the peasant chest adorned with tulips in Paris, too. Istvdn Csok' 1This quotation from a Hungarian painter often in France at the turn of the century reveals accurately and characteristically the role and significance of Franco-Hungarian art relations, the integrative function the French capital played in the art of other countries, which was far more than a passive 'communicator-receptor' relation. Before this intricate network of relations is illustrated with concrete examples, let me briefly touch on the developments after the turn of the century and the emergence of the first avant-garde movements. From the mid nineteenth century, adjustment to French art was a cardinal question in Hungarian art. Nor was it otherwise between the two world wars, although there were a lot of differences. The attitude towards French art until 1914, basically embedded in the context of modernity, artistic innovation and the correlation of universal versus national art, now' 1 Quoted by J. Vaszary, 'A mai festészet mérlege' [Weighing contemporary art), Pesti Napló, 10 July 1927, in: Régi és/vagy & u a c u t e ; j reneszánsz. Vaszary János összegyũjtött írásai [ Old and/or new renaissance. Collected writings by János Vaszary ] (ed. O. Mezei), Tudományos Füzetek 8. Komárom-Esztergom Megyei Múzeumi Szervezet, n.d.