INTRODUCTION

By putting on small-scale exhibitions in Budapest from autumn 2019 on, Sándor Barna is taking a look at the first twenty years of his art collection. The entrepreneur was born in Nógrád County and when his first family in Budapest was completed in 1999, he started to buy modern and contemporary artwork just to decorate the walls. Step by step he decided to build a collection of 20th century art. He was advised by art dealer Peter Don who picked some pieces for him at auctions but also, since Don had been active in art management for decades, he introduced some artist clients to the family. Barna’s daughter Katalin accompanied his father to these programs and, although she was not trained in art history, she was the one to choose, for instance, Gyula Pauer’s art for an early item on the portfolio. Pauer’s works later became regular acquisitions for the collection.

Among the works purchased at art auctions Gyula Rudnay’s art became important. He was a sort of a „mythical” painter of modern art and became a part of the classical section of the collection. His student Mihály Schéner continued that tradition. He was always searching for a union between the figurative and the abstract, and his nostalgic motives (such as gingerbread art, professionally naïve, folklore-like interpretations of soldiers and other legendary figures) and his use of different materials (plastic surfaces treated with sand) combined local characteristics with rural traditions, thus turning this mix into a sublime, modern-day visual legend. The ageing artist became a family friend and around a hundred pieces of his work are now part of the collection.

A number of artworks are to be found in the collection from a very different artist, the architect-turned fine artist Ákos Matzon who, just like Schéner and some others, received a monthly allowance from Mr. Barna and who represents the constructive direction among the artworks.

The first exhibition in the Imre Kálmán Museum in Siófok in 2002 focused on trying to create a bridge between these two directions by showing both traditional narrative pieces as well as more abstract or geometrical artwork. Mr. Barna’s other art counsellor, Gábor Pogány back at the time wrote a bilingual catalogue for the show, explaining the link between figurative and abstract, and claiming that geometry had always been part of the arts – many times used in the ancient times for conveying spiritual messages – and only in modern times it became an independent art form in its own right so why not re-unite it with its sisters. The selection from the collection exhibited at that time showed works ranging from László Fehér to Tamás Konok, to support the point.

With hindsight I would say, when one considers the country landscape visions of Demeter János Lóránt as an example of rural spiritual abstract art, then it is all right to couple them with the seemingly quite different early works of Attila Csáji, who belonged to the urban intellectual Szürenon group, and as a friend of Péter Don’s many of whose works were recommended for the collection. On these paintings the creatures of nature are transformed into amorphous, surrealistic beings, while remaining some kind of structured, abstract statements at the same time (Moorland Ghost, Cherub).

Since the collector was running some of his businesses on the southern shore of Lake Balaton he purchased a small estate in the rolling hills of Somogy County, in Töreki. Thanks to architect Szabolcs Kövessy and interior designer Tibor Somlai in the early 2000s it was transformed into an artist colony. When I visited the place I was in awe that the premises – three apartments and the auxiliary buildings that could host four artist families at a time – were a wonderful blend of local traditional architecture and a high quality cosmopolitan atmosphere. I shared my experiences about the work going on there in the journals „Műértő” 2004/7-8 and „Szalon” 2008/4.

The Artist Colony was active from 2003 for a decade. The artists were invited to stay getting full board and they donated one or two pieces of artwork to the host in return. So, along with the auction purchases and grants to artists it was the third source for enlarging the collection.

In a summer season, about ten to twenty artists came to the colony, among them well-known figures from Attila Mata to János Kalmár and István Haász but there was also one year (in 2010) when it was only Dezső Váli staying for the whole summer. As usual for him, except for Sundays, he started a new painting every day which he would finish in his Budapest studio later in the year; and has now, accordingly, several works in the collection. Apart from the invitations there were also calls for grants, like in 2012 when the artwork created in Töreki was exhibited at the Artplacc in Tihany. Sometimes other artistic events were organized there as well; once The International Kepes Society held its annual meeting there, so a few pieces of foreign artwork also made their way to the collection. A case in point is the leading Finnish kinetic artist Esa Laurema, by whom two compositions feature today in the collection. Or in one year Zsigmond Károlyi, who was teaching at the University of Fine Arts, came to stay with his entire class; leaving in the collection works by himself as much as his students, which allows today also for a view at links between various generations of artists.

Although the majority of the artists were painters (Csaba Filp, Róbert Sütő) sculptors also found suitable circumstances (Ildikó Zsemlye, Nagy Gábor Mihály, alias Nagámi) and photographers and graphic artists were also welcome (László Haris, István Orosz). The organization and the management of the art colony life was entrusted to artist Attila Orbán, and the place gave room to a wide range of styles, which accounts for the diversity of the collection today. There recurrent presence of the Sensaria Group, which dedicated itself to the renewal of figurative painting (e. g. Roland Horváth and Dániel László), was a logical decision in view of the non-conceptual preferences of the owner, while others like Ágnes Kontra or Márta Kucsora introduced a romanticism-induced new-pantheistic direction into the collection. Generations also varied, from the very young ones like Emese Bács and László Hatházi to the „big old names” like István Haraszty and István B. Gellér.

The artwork created in Töreki was also exhibited a number of times in Budapest since the collector purchased a 200 year old prestigious house in the Ujlak part of Buda in 2007. It was transformed into a multi-purpose building where the baroque attic area was used as an exhibition gallery. Apart from the Töreki and various other group collections many individual exhibitions were shown such as that of András Halász, Zoltán Ötvös and Kata Könyv and a few talented young artist were also invited (Annamária Őry, Franciska Szabó).

The collection kept growing in different ways and it sometimes went public. The 2015 exhibition by Balázs Pálfi showed many pieces of the collection. Sometimes foreign artists were also invited and in 2009, based on the idea of Ede Sinkovics, who is originally from Vojvodina, Serbia, there was an international Symposion in Töreki. Many artists took part from South-east Europe and some also from Hungary, like Zsolt Ferenczy. A selection of those works was also shown in Óbuda.

The place in Óbuda, called Symbol, was suitable for showing small sculptures. Tamás Gaál’s works, combining organic and constructive elements were also shown there often. Sometimes whole teams of artists joined in: there were concerts given by András Wahorn, Tamás Kopasz, József Szurcsik and their artist friends. In 2013 female painters were exhibited with the title „Pretty and talented”: Ágnes Verebics, Naomi Devil (Noémi Ördögh), Ágnes Podmaniczky and others, and they also turned the vernissage into a fashion show, by wearing the designs of Lilla Fufavi.

In contrast to these popular events, it was shocking when the dramatic pieces of ceramic artwork of the late Levente Thury were shown in these settings, back in 2014. The elaboration of the traumatic past became likewise the subject of the tender „Think it over”, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust. The curators of the project were Judit Faludy and Péter Fitz and the exhibition – with works of Tamás Fuchs, Áron Gábor and Zsuzsa G. Heller, among others – went on tour to different cities in Hungary, e.g. to Szécsény, hometown of Mr. Barna, to the Ferenc Kubinyi Museum. There are only a few surviving members of the family and in order to honour their tragic memory, the collection is now called Braun Collection, bearing the original family name.

Due to economic factors and changes in the family’s art patronage commitment, the Töreki estate as well as the Symbol in Óbuda currently have new functions and no longer operate as art centres. When one is engaged in a supporting programs for artists with a vast number of individuals included, there are inevitable conflicts. For these reasons the collection stopped growing in 2015 and has lived as a Sleeping Beauty for the past years. Now, by taking a fresh and critical look at the ca. six-hundred works of art, the family, headed this time by Katalin Barna, active in the communication business, is re-awakening the collection.

When artists are invited from a diverse spectrum of styles and backgrounds, it is inevitable that some of their works won’t survive the test of times. By examining the collection with a certain scrutiny wheat can be separated from chaff so that real values will find their ways to survive, and help make a strong collection. One of the names not mentioned so far is that of László Csorba-Simon. A self-taught artist, he is always looking for the spiritual element in art. About twenty works by him, many large sized, enrich the collection and profess allegiance to the family’s mission to support artists off the mainstream.

There is a reason why the family prefers to stay away from some of today’s directions. As national poet Sándor Petőfi says, „I may admire, but not love, you”. Every collector has the faculty to make their own choices and to decide which is the style they are happy with and willing to support. However, it does not mean that no professional expertise or advice is needed, since collecting art is a trial and error kind of process, and eventually everyone has to acquire the knowledge of the trade, in order to make worthy decisions. The Braun Collection is now in the very middle of this learning process, to balance their non-conceptual, traditionalist view with appropriate quality in art.

In the present collection many artistic trends are represented, making it a challenge to put them together in a way that they are both coherent and adhere to a unique identity at the same time. While most artists in the collection are contemporary, among the classics feature post-war figures such as László Bartha and Krisztián Frey. Their works now serve as a historical background for the contemporary positions. Today’s mid-career artists like Attila Kondor, János Korodi or Lehel Kovács stand for the figurative trends whereas from Imre Bak to Tamás Boros there is also a strong group of constructivist pieces.

Daring young women artists are also present in the collection, such as Patrícia Jagicza, Luca Korodi and others. Although paintings dominate, there are several plastic works, too, by artists ranging from Sándor Kecskeméti to István Drozsnyik. Given the fact that the collection is searching for directions different from conceptual art, is a real surprise that there is a piece by Antal Lakner, a family acquaintance, famous for his post-conceptual approach. His ironic and critical fictitious projects are a good match for Pauer Gyula’s pseudo compositions.

This diversity among the works is the reflection of the past twenty years when extensive growth characterised the collection. The new exhibition series – from Bartók 1 Gallery (November 2019) to UP Gallery (December 2019 and on to further locations, with a different section of the collection to be shown at each – is the beginning of a new, more selective approach, one that will focus more on a system for the works and on their interpretation. This e-catalogue presents works taken from these temporary shows, partly to document the past twenty years from the collector’s point of view, and partly to suggest new ways of developing the collection further.