Abstracts of Submitted Papers 2012

Eva Zeisel: A Tourist in Life

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
On December 30, 2011, ceramics designer Eva Zeisel passed away at the august age of 105. Her amazing career spanned most of the 20th century and continued into the 21st. Her status as a designer and her artistic influence is unquestionable. Her personal story as a citizen of the world through the exigencies of history is equally compelling.
Eva Polanyi Stricker was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1906 into an affluent, intellectual family. An unconventional spirit from early on, she learned the craft of pottery making by joining the local potters’ guild. Her talent and her sense of adventure took her to Berlin in the early 1930’s. There she designed Bauhaus-influenced designs for commercial production. In 1932 she made an adventuresome visit to Russia. Surprisingly finding employment there, she eventually became official Director of the China and Glass Industry in Moscow. She was falsely arrested in 1936 in a Stalinist purge, was imprisoned for 16 months, then was suddenly released. She returned to Vienna, but was forced to flee in advance of the Nazi occupation. She left for England, married Hans Zeisel, and emigrated to the United States.
Arriving in New York in 1938, Eva began life anew. She successfully found freelance work designing china, had a groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and was the director of the industrial design curriculum at Pratt Institute. Her elegant, always contemporary designs made her a design icon and her reputation only increased with time. Eva Zeisel always looked to the future, and never mourned the past. She survived the ordeals of fate, observing life dispassionately with grace, charm and humor, as a perpetual tourist in life.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Joyce Berczik Corbett (MFA University of Washington, Seattle; Fine Art and Art History). is a California based museum consultant, curator and independent scholar, with research specializing in Central and Eastern European folk art, costume and textiles. She was curator for 2010-11 exhibition “Between East and West: Folk Art Treasures of Romania”“, “Hungarian Folk Magic: the Art of Joseph Domjan”, 2008, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA and “Eva Zeisel: Extraordinary Designer at 100”, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, 2006-07, and Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 2007. She is a member of the International Advisory Board, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA, and Founder of the Ethnic Textile Council, San Diego. She chairs the Mid-Century Modern Section, Far West Popular Culture/American Culture Association, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Fulbright Scholar, Hungary, Slovak Republic IREX Research Scholar, Romania, Hungary.

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Delicate Depictions of Bloody Women: Domján's Folk Art Heroines

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The artist József Domján drew inspiration from the folk traditions of his native Hungary, especially during his lengthy--and challenging--life outside its borders. Like his countrymen Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, Domján incorporated elements of Hungarian folk art into his own work. Those familiar with his masterful woodcuts will know that his images were filled with decorative lacy details similar to motifs found on Hungarian folk textiles, pottery, and furniture. They might also be aware that some of these same motifs came to adorn a series of magnificent tapestries modeled on Domján woodcuts. Domján devotees are sure to be acquainted with his spectacular trio of monumental color woodcuts on the theme of Bluebeard's Castle (a tribute to Bartók's opera), whose hapless heroine Judith was to have the same bloody end as her husband's previous wives. What they might be surprised to learn is that Domján also depicted other, less celebrated bloody female protagonists. This presentation will introduce four of them, selected from the suite of woodcuts that illustrate the text of TÍZ MAGYAR NÉPBALLADA 'Ten Hungarian Folk Ballads': "Clement Mason" (or "The Walled-Up Wife"), " Kate Kádár (or "The Two Chapel Flowers"), "Anna Molnár (or "The Enticed Wife"), and "The Dishonored Girl" (or "A Woman in Trouble"). The source for these images is a slim volume that has all but disappeared from circulation since its 1982 publication.

Equipment needed: Computer set-up for PowerPoint on thumb drive and/or CD.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kathleen V. Kish (BA: UC-Berkeley, MA and PhD: UW-Madison) is Professor Emerita at both San Diego State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her publications include three editions of 16th-century translations (Italian, German, and Dutch) of the Spanish classic CELESTINA. An Honorary Fellow of the Hispanic Society of America and Past Editor of the journal LA CORÓNICA, she co-edits the docent newsletter for the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, where she also enjoys leading tours, including those for children from Baja California. Dr. Kish is the owner of Kish Academic Editing (www.kishediting.com).

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The Life of László Hudec: In His Own Words

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Life of László Hudec: In His Own Words
Documentary Film (26 min. 2011, Hungary)
Hungarian spoken with English subtitles.
Dir: Réka Pigniczky

László Ede Hugyecz (1893-1958) -- later L.E. Hudec -- was a Central European (Hungarian/Slovak) architect who fled the vicissitudes of Europe in the early 20th century, taking with him the style and knowledge of European building design and construction. His work – spanning nearly 30 years of Shanghai’s economic and cultural ‘glory days’ – includes the first skyscraper from London to Tokyo.

In 2008 new archive materials – including original letters, photos and 16mm film – surfaced from his descendants in Hungary and the U.S. These archives paint a complex and thinking man living at the crossroads between Europe and China. The new archive materials reveal the man behind the architect that even his children barely knew.

Through their testimony, through his incredible film footage, and through our research of his footsteps, his story gives an extraordinary inside look at the first rush of Europeans to China, of its first modernization (skyscrapers!), and of the turmoil of the 20th century. A perspective all the more fascinating that, today, once again, China looks like the new El Dorado.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Réka Pigniczky is a television journalist, producer and independent documentary filmmaker. She has worked for Associated Press Television News for over 10 years, both in New York and in Budapest, Hungary. She completed her first feature-length documentary, Journey Home: a story from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, at the end of 2006. It won awards in Hungary and was invited to screen at a number of international film festivals. She completed her second feature-length documentary, Inkubátor, in 2010, which saw a wide audience in Hungary through a national theatrical release as well as television broadcast, and it enjoyed wide critical acclaim after the Hungarian Film Festival. The film was also voted one of the 25 best films released in Hungary in 2010.

56 Films is actively involved in Hungary’s documentary community, and Réka has taken part in a number of festival juries and international documentary projects. She is also a member of the European Documentary Network (EDN) and the International Documentary Association (IDA).

Réka has an MA in journalism and international relations from Columbia University in New York, and she also has an MA in political science from the Central European University in Budapest. She has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. Réka was born and raised in the U.S. by Hungarian refugee parents, and has been living in Hungary since 2002 with her husband and three children. Réka spent the early 1990’s working as a political consultant and volunteer organizer for women’s NGO’s in Hungary.

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Do Artists Have Nationalities? Oral Histories of Hungarian Artists at the Archives of American Art

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Collections of the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution preserve the papers and oral histories of several influential Hungarian born artists. My project examines the role of Hungarian heritage in the lives and works of these key artists.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Susanna holds an MA from Roman Archaeology and History, an MLS from Rutgers, and currently a PhD Candidate at the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers. She has been working since 1978 as a subject bibliographer and reference librarian. Her publications are in the fields of Roman archaeology, museum studies and chat reference services. In 1998 she co-curated the Jozsef Domjan Retrospective Exhibition at the American Hungarian Foundation.

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Az American Hungarian Foundation and Heritage Center képzőművészeti gyűjteménye

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Fulbright kutatói ösztöndíjjal 2011. november 1-én érkeztem az American Hungarian Foundation and Heritage Center (New Brunswick) képzőművészeti gyűjteményének a kutatása és szakmai feldolgozása céljából. Művészettörténészként, a nem Magyarországon élt/élő magyar képzőművészek kutatásával és életműveik feldolgozásával foglalkozom. A rendszerváltás óta több tanulmányom, és könyvem jelent meg a témakörből. Számos kiállítást rendeztem Magyarországon és külföldön, illetve tartottam előadásokat a Magyarország határain kívül, és az egykor az emigrációban élt/élő művészekről. 2000-ben Budapesten nemzetközi művészettörténeti konferenciát rendeztem 20. századi magyar képzőművészet Magyarország határain kívül címmel. Az amerikai földrészen élt képzőművészekről több előadás is elhangzott. A háromnapos konferencia ötven előadása „Külön világban és külön időben.” 20. századi magyar képzőművészet Magyarország határain kívül 1918-tól napjainkig címmel 2001-ben jelent meg.

2008-ban, Domján József festőművész és grafikus születésének 100. évfordulója alkalmából San Diegoban, a Mingei Múzeumban rendezett kiállításra hívtak meg előadást tartani. Témám, Domján József emigráció előtti képzőművészete és az 50-es évek magyarországi kultúrpolitikája volt. Ugyanezen utam során, New Brunswickban, az American-Hungarian Foundation and Heritage Center épületében a 3T – Tiltott, tűrt, támogatott képzőművészet címmel a korabeli hivatalos jegyzőkönyvek és törvények alapján beszéltem az 1945 utáni kultúrpolitikáról és a szocreál művészetről. (1945 után és a Kádár korszakban tiltott volt a külföldön élt/élő magyar képzőművészekről írni, kiállítást rendezni műveikből, stb.)
Molnár Ágoston Professzor úr ekkor mutatta be az Alapítvány minden szempontból rendkívül jelentős és fontos művészeti gyűjteményét.

1979-től dolgozom a Magyar Nemzeti Galériában. Pontosan tudom, hogy a 20. századi magyar művészettörténet egyik legkevésbé kutatott és ismert területe az Amerikában élt magyar képzőművészek munkássága, életpályája. Ezért kettős, kétszeres feladatomnak tekintem az AHF Múzeum gyűjteményében végzett munkát. Az amerikai magyarság történelme, léte, kultúrája és a magyarországi művészettörténet szempontjából.

Az AHF jegyzőkönyvei és az AHF Múzeum képzőművészeti alkotásai alapján, 1955-től rendszeresen érkeztek/érkeznek be művek a gyűjteménybe. A leltárkönyvek alapján minden ajándékba kapott alkotásnál szerepelnek az ajándékozó neve és címe mellett a beérkezésre vonatkozó szükséges adatok.

A gyűjtemény alapját (festmények, grafikák, vázlatok, szobrok)
-Magyarországi,
-amerikai magyar,
-Nyugat-Európában működött magyar képzőművészek alkotásai képezik.
-ezen kívül több műalkotás található az amerikai, német, osztrák, olasz, stb. képzőművészektől.

Az AHF Múzeumában találhatók továbbá:
-régi városmetszetek, történelmi portrék, régi történelmi nyomatok
-plakátok
-fotók (dokumentum, művészi, családi)
-és egyéb művészeti dokumentumok

Fontos megjegyeznem, hogy a vegyes anyagban, az egész Kárpát-medencéből kivándorolt művészek közt számos olyan név is szerepel, akiről szintén semmit sem tudtunk/tudunk Magyarországon.

A szakmai leltározás szerint meghatározott és feldolgozott műtárgyak alapján, az AHF and Heritage Center Múzeumában lévő művekről
-szakmai, művészettörténeti és
-kultúrtörténeti szempontok alapján egyaránt szeretnék előadásomban beszélni.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Szabó, Lilla has been an art historian of the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest, since 1979. Her area of specialization is Hungarian fine arts of the 20th Century, both in Hungary as well as abroad. Dr. Szabó published many articles, studies, and monographs on this subject and organized exhibitions.

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