Hungarian Studies

The Art of Life presents the first golden age of Hungarian poster art, in an international context, which developed at the turn of the 20th Century in the Art Nouveau style, including works by great artists of the genre Mucha, Klimt, Toulouse-Lautrec, Moser and others. They are joined by iconic works by well-known Hungarian artists, including Faragó, Biró, Helbing, Tuszkay and works by artists who have been undeservedly forgotten. The Art of Life offers insight into Art Nouveau posters, and other graphic design work, along with objects of applied art and architecture which also play a role. The posters advertise a wide variety of phenomena, newspapers, theatres, cabarets, amusement parlours and commercial products, etc., thus recalling the era in which they were created. The Art of Life reveals the world of bourgeois homes, urban nightlife at the turn of the century, the atmosphere of cafés, the dress and habits of urban women, the leisure activities popular at the turn of the century, cycling, visits to spas and glittering balls. The posters, with their subtle painterly solutions or decorative line, promote the Art Nouveau idea of beauty, delight or humour. They recreate the atmosphere of the last happy years of peace before the First World War.

A large-scale exhibition planned for the Hungarian National Gallery will present the culture of the first decades of the nineteenth century, taking a pan-artistic approach and focusing mainly on Hungarian and Austrian paintings, sculptures, furniture, clothing, and other utility items. For the first time since the exhibition of paintings held in the Mucsarnok (Kunsthalle) in 1938, the public will be given a comprehensive overview of the art of the Hungarian Reform Era, a period synonymous with the name Biedermeier. Divided into thematic sections, based on aspects of the social sciences and exploring the main stages and situations of human existence, the exhibition will present visitors with the Biedermeier zeitgeist as it appeared in every area of life.