Within Frames

The 1960s – or more precisely the years from 1958 to 1968 – was one of the most controversial periods in the history of Hungarian art. A period in which the previous decade’s socialist realist conventions marked by a false heroism and propagandistic depictions were still around but neo-avant-garde strivings aimed at provocatively addressing the true nature of reality were also awakening. Artists were restricted in their room for manoeuvre in these years. Invisible boundaries marked the realm within which artists could only express their need for modernity by imposing limitations upon themselves. Open communication was replaced by doublespeak, reading between the lines, the clever culture of coding and decoding: a manipulative world within the frames of the ‘Three Ts’ was introduced, showing more lenience than before but coming down hard on ‘trespassers’. 

The show – as well as the related publication – brings together the period’s significant masters, such as Viola Berki, Tibor Csernus, Béla Gruber, László Gyémánt, Ignác Kokas, Béla Kondor, Dezső Korniss, István Kurucz D., István Mácsai and József Somogyi. The works include many that are exhibited for the first time since the five to six decades of their entering public collections, as well as those by foreign artists – Bernard Buffet, Renato Guttuso, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Willi Sitte – who inspired Hungarian artists either in regard to their themes or styles.