This exhibition explores the relation between art and society from the outbreak of the First World War to the end of the 1930s through the life’s work of two lesser known figures of the Hungarian avant-garde, Erzsi Újvári and Sándor Barta. These artists operated at the intersection of fiction and reality, utopia and politics, and art and lifestyle.

The “wonderful story” in the title of the exhibition is a reference to a utopian documentary novel by Sándor Barta; the question mark alludes to the difficulty of understanding the state of affairs that gave rise to their work. The exhibition examines how history shaped the lives of Erzsi Újvári (Kassák’s sister) and her husband Sándor Barta and how their work was informed by contemporary artistic and political affairs, literary and utopian conceptions, the formulation of artistic and social roles, the poetic voice, and opportunities within the institutional system. Erzsi Újvári was originally a worker in a factory that made funeral shrouds, and her story, as presented in the exhibition, touches on several important issues of the time. What were the chances of social mobility for working class people of the time? In a highly hierarchical society, how could a working-class artist get publicity? What was the effect of revolutionary poetry, traditionally a male preserve, when it incorporated the viewpoints of women and children? In another dimension of culture: in what avant-garde forums and in what roles could women have their voices heard? And why do we know so little of their activity today?

The recently-purchased archive of the artist couple and documents in the collections of the Petőfi Literary Museum and the Kassák Museum provide clues to understanding this lost world.

Opening

Date: 28 January 2022, 6 pm
Opening speech: Eszter Őze, art historian, researcher at KEMKI

Credits

Curated by: Sára Bagdi, Gábor Dobó, Merse Pál Szeredi
Consultant: Eszter Balázs
Design: Klára Rudas

Proofreading: Gina Gombkötő, Zoltán Szabó
English translation: Alan Campbell, Gwen Jones
Communication: Renáta Szikra
Administration: Erzsébet Károly
Video: Benedek Bognár, Zsuzsanna Simon

Installation:

Special Effects Zrt.
Luca Tímea Győri, Project Manager
Imre Baki, Construction Manager

Petőfi Literary Museum
Ferenc Badak, Annamária H. Kocsis, Gyula Kemény

Lending institutions and collections:

• Collection of the Barta-Braun Family
• Petőfi Literary Museum
• Rómer Flóris Art and History Museum – Imre Patkó Collection
• Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery 

Reproductions:

• Gyula Illyés Archives
• Collection of Nimród Kovács
• National Széchényi Library
• Austrian National Library
• Petőfi Literary Museum
• Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery

Special thanks: Katalin B. Barta, Zsófia Barta–Braun, Adrienn Kácsor, György C. Kálmán, Orsolya Réthelyi, Sára Sahin–Tóth, Erzsébet Schiller, Katalin Teller ​​