Gádor (Helikon Galéria, Budapest, 1984)
Now, in the age of nostalgy, it is really a great pleasure to organize a historic exhibition, that, in fact, is presenting recent works of art, as in the case of the 93 years old István Gádor. He is displaying his own renaissance. I feel that I am more entitled to this Gádornostalgy than any other lovers of art, because I have learnt the Gádor-phenomenon not from books. Though it was not a long period, I lived for a while in an atmosphere being progressive both from artistic and human point of view. Gádor is one of the representatives of this. I have vague recollections of the Flóris Pastry Shop in Vörösmarty square which kept the marks of this artist; I have been to the Atelier - the art school of Dezső Orbán - where Gádor was a teacher; and above all I visited Gádor’s cellar studio during the second world war. The Helikon Gallery is not able and does not want to host this cellar labyrinth; this selection is going only, pars pro toto, to show Gádor’s free standings. As we can learn from the respective literature, Gádor started his career as a sculptor, but we can add, at the same time, that all his ceramics, even those meant for decoration or practical use, are on the level of grand art. I noted once that all his career is a Sturm und Drang period. I can only repeat this. Probably today his art is called ’open’, but I do think that he always was hungry for something new, new forms and new contents. His appearance was a revolution in Hungarian ceramics. And, there was a time when his art was branded formalist, it was long ago. He did not have enemies, but he did not seek the favour of anybody; neither that of the potentates, nor that of the public, not even that of the greatest power, youth. Following his Atelier-period he became a college professor. He was dictating the strictest norms with gentle liberalism. Recalling our conversations I must realize that his quiet comments on aesthetics were so accurate and though we did not pay sufficient attention we are following these lines. This small cycle of his free standings - though covering more than fifty years - is fully representing his artistic periods, flexibility, frequent changes of style. The earliest expressive pieces are showing the traces of his basic experience gained in Wiener Werkstätte, late Art Nouveau. These compositions made of ready-made sticks, more exactly ceramics tubes are arbourlike formations; and here the open-work, empty parts are equal to the material. They are crammings of human figures or animals; his architectural rules make me remember of zoomorf iunctio. His later space objects are more roundish, gravel-like; but the open-work parts - if they are present - have the leading role. It is non-figurative plactic art not in the orthodox sense, because after careful study one can associate them with something organic; bones, human figures, more often torsos or double figures. Parallel with the works under this structureless cover the artist is trying his hands at his other love, Constructivism. But in the glazed brick, robotlike buildings he always remains - in his reserved, masculine way - lyrical. The present selection is clearly showing Gádor’s efforts - not to say shuttle - to analyze and to summarize. Colours are dominating in his works, just like in the case of a painter. He clearly states this in his ars poetica. Tomato red, brown, green, white glazed ceramics, unglazed terracotta, chamot, ashlar or the idiom of porcelaine - having opposite sign with Gádor - are all carrying different messages. It is not a secret that this chamber exhibition has been deliberately planned for this autumn; it has been meant to extend the rooms of the Palace of Exhibitions where the Sixth Budapest International Exhibition of Small Sculpture is taking place parallely. This series is fully satisfying the necessary and sufficient conditions of par excellence small sculpture. In fact, he is a typical example of it. JÁNOS FRANK Both this exhibition and its catalogue were meant to pay homage to the living István Gádor. The manuscript was already in press when the Master died. We have not touched the text but it is our mourful duty to mark the fact and date of the death.