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The opening of the “Life of Ágoston Véső” exhibition, a Transylvanian Hungarian painter and Munkácsy Prize winner was held on 16th of August 2023, in conjunction with the opening of the new Partium House.
Mayor of Debrecen László Papp said at the opening of the exhibition that the Nagybánya Artists’ Colony was perhaps the most influential artistic grouping of 20th-century Hungarian painting, the founding movement of modern Hungarian painting, and the personal presence of Ágoston Véső and the paintings on the walls draw our attention to Nagybánya.
The fact that we have one of the most important artists of the Carpathian Basin painting, the bearer of the legacy of the Nagybánya Artists’ Colony and that his paintings can be admired by the public in Debrecen for more than a month is also thanks to the Partium House, which is part of the Hungarian Houses Network. In cooperation with the Municipality of Debrecen, it consistently works on the integration of the historical and cultural values of Partium and Transylvania, on strengthening the sense of national belonging and Hungarian identity, the mayor stressed.
The mayor said that Debrecen wants to become a strong cross-border regional centre, an East-Hungarian bridgehead that will unite the north-eastern Carpathian Basin from Szolnok to Ungvár, from Kassia to Oradea, in the fields of economy, education, culture and transport, based on mutual interests.
In his welcome speech, Csaba Pál Szabó, Managing Director of the Network of Hungarian Houses, said that the way in which the state regional cultural organisation logic meets local cultural organisation inspiration, strengths and visions is a model of its operation.
Imre Szakács, painter and director of the Szentendre Artists’ Centre, in his appreciation of the exhibition, said that sacrality played a very important role in the art and life of Ágoston Véső.
To quote the French painter Eugéne Delacroix: “The first duty of a picture is to be a feast for the eye, and here we are, part of a wonderful celebration.
Ágoston Véső, through his own painterly language and formal world, transmits and, at the same time, renews for the 21st century what we can call “Nagybánya painting”. Csaba Latorcai, Deputy Minister and Executive Secretary of the KDNP, said. “Ágoston Véső builds on his Nagybánya predecessors while at the same time taking into account the tragedies of the 20th century in his art. Because the historical tragedies of the 20th century have divided us Hungarians into several parts, and perhaps because of national borders, this nation now lives its daily life divided into several parts, but we remain one in culture. The Partium House, in its name too, connects Hungarians living in Hungary and beyond the border. It makes the historical and contemporary values of North-Eastern Hungarian and the Partium region accessible. It is, therefore, an excellent place to experience a sense of belonging in everyday life and in our celebrations through the programmes organised here,” he added.
Ágoston Véső recalled that he had been in Debrecen many times and that he had many ties with the city. As he said, he had visited the Hortobágy art camp for many years, and an exhibition of its spirit was opened. The artist stressed that our culture must not only be preserved but also brought into the present and made to work.
Ágoston Véső’s exhibition “70 YEARS OF IMAGES” will be on display at the Partium House (81 Piac Street) until the 30th of September 2023.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
