2008-07-10

Lajos Gulacsy

Gisteren bezocht ik samen met Anna de retrospectieve tentoonstelling over de Hongaarse schilder Lajos Gulacsy. De tentoonstelling gaat door in het Kogart huis en zal omwille van het enorme succes nog een week langer blijven. Het was inderdaad heel druk voor een woensdagnamiddag en de bezoekers waren vooral iets oudere mensen die met hun bril op het topje van hun neus de doeken afspeurden.
Lajos Gulacsy was naast schilder ook schrijver en Anna vertelde me dat hij een nieuw land verzon dat Na-conxpan heette. Hij beschreef dat land in zijn teksten, doeken en tekeningen. Hij bedacht zelfs een taal voor de mensen die in Na-conxypan woonden. Over dat taaltje vind ik niet dadelijk iets terug op het web maar deze mooie tekst stond op kieselbach.hu.

"Lajos Gulacsy (1882-1932), with his dreamy, mysterious, and refined paintings, set out somewhat in the manner of the Pre-Raphaelites. Reality did not mean much to him, and the title of a book which he had perhaps not even read, or an odd, strange name would suffice to set off the process of reflection and of creation. His paintings emanated a strange mood, full of enigmatic meaning, while his style did not lose contact with the Art-Nouveau.
As his schizophrenia progressed, he became more and more a stranger to his world, and his work was more and more bizarre and dilettantish. He fled to a self-constructed dream-land, which he called "Na-conxypan." Finally, during the First World War, his work, which showed signs of complete disintegration, was overcome by the oppressive mist of a sick mind.
Whether or not the distortions in the disquietingly grotesque figures and scenes of "Na-conxypan" originate from his illness is a subject of controversy. His paintings have, nevertheless, a unique place in Hungarian art history because of the nostalgic and sometimes Surrealistic atmosphere they suggest."


Paolo and Francesca, 1903, pencil and oil, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

2 comments:

Unknown said...

do you like Gulácsy?

Ann said...

I like the painting I've posted a lot. I think his use of colors was amazing and so I liked the bright colorful ones most of all, but he's not one of my favorites :)