With the power of art
The Kolozsváry collection
MúzeumCafé 7.
Ernő Kolozsváry set an example with his modesty. He would even spend his teacher’s salary to obtain a work of art important for him. He established a private collection, which has not been dispersed after his death. Paintings by masters of the European School and works of art by outstanding contemporary artists sing the praises of his activity. For decades Kolozsváry taught science at the Kazinczy Ferenc Grammar School in Győr, then in the 1990s he was mayor of the town for four years. At the beginning of the 20th century, art lovers established several prominent private collections, alongside those of aristocrats and the church. A number of these, including those of Emil Delmár and Ferenc Hopp, were integrated in museum compilations, yet other collections were scattered or destroyed. Collectors seemed to be in hiding for some time. Then a few distinguished names and institutions appeared on the scene: Iván Dévényi, Béla Gömör, István Rácz, Dénes Deák’s museum in Székesfehérvár, the Károly Patkó collection in Győr, and the First Hungarian Design and Art Collection based on Ákos Vörösváry’s accumulated works in Tapolca-Diszel. Housing of the Vasilescu collection in Győr, Károly László’s in Veszprém and the Antal-Lusztig collection in Debrecen are among the latest developments.
Ernő Kolozsváry formulated his own credo: “I lived in faith and knew that the power of art was the only token of independence from everyone and everything …”
Two years ago the Kieselbach Gallery displayed a large selection with the title The Kolozsváry Home – a private collection as never seen before. Works by Lili Ország represent the first among equals in the collection. The Kolozsvárys first met and made friends with her in 1964 and as a result an extensive selection of her oeuvre was formed, which later determined Kolozsváry’s attitude to collecting. Paintings by Dezső Korniss, Endre Bálint and Margit Anna represent another main pillar. A third element comprises about two dozen works by György Román, who rendered fantastic visions on canvas and whose paintings, like the other two parts of the collection, were shown at solo exhibitions. At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s Kolozsváry met Béla Kondor, Pál Deim (who, on Kolozsváry’s initiative, created in Győr arguably the most appealing of Hungary’s 1956 monuments) and Ilona Keserű – the paintings of all three artists constitute important parts of the collection. There are also works by Béla Veszelszky, Jenő Barcsay, Menyhért Tóth, Erzsébet Schaár, Erzsébet Vaszkó and Tibor Vilt – their creations represent different styles and approaches of the highest quality. The earliest paintings, those by Lajos Gulácsy, István Nagy, József Egry, István Farkas and Lajos Vajda, were acquired due to their quality as well as a personal attachment. However, works representing the latest trends in Hungarian art by István Nádler and El Kazovszkij are as much an integral part of the collection as Sándor Zoltán’s creations, which involve mysterious worlds in tiny boxes, or the sculpture of naïve artist Ferenc Kovács.
“A collector is like a conductor,” Ernő Kolozsváry once declared, “showing himself through others. I’ve set the standard high. Only those were included in my collection who created their own world by looking inward. They are Hungarians by being absolutely European.”