Modern Hungarian Metalwork [antikvár]

Hungarian metalwork today is no less varied than it was in the past, and ranges from delicate and intricate jewelry to simple iron work. It is not possible, therefore, in a short book such as this, to cover the whole field, but we shall attempt to show both how contemporary work has developed compared with that of the past, and the specific nature of the artistic problems that have arisen. We shall not be concerned with work produced on a purely commercial basis, however high its technical standards may be, but shall confine ourselves to the question of how Hungarian metalworking emerged from its long stagnation. The conception of applied arts first arose in Hungary at the end of the last century when, after the abolition of the Guilds, some of the most outstanding craftsmen, with a view to maintaining their standards of workmanship, founded the School of Applied Arts in Budapest in 1880. This separation of the applied arts and the fine arts, which did not exist in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, in China or in ancient Egypt, was a mistake. It was bound to lead to a deterioration of artistic standards in the applied arts, and did in fact hinder the development of the art of metalwork in Hungary in the first half of the twentieth centur}/. Indeed, it is only in the last fifteen years that there has been a revival. I do not mean by this that there were no technically skilled Hungarian craftsmen: today, the State Mint alone employs about a thousand expert craftsmen and almost the same number are working in the Watch and Jewelry Industrial Enterprise in Budapest, apart from the considerable number of craftsmen engaged in the manufacture of jewelry and