BUDAPEST.- Early in his career Art Deco and later on modernist ceramic design - and the painful gap in between that is a result of a clay target shooting contest in 1945 organized by Soviet occupation troops in Hungary which destroyed much of the work from his mid career – were the two genres that characterized Géza Gorka’s art the most. The exhibition on the Hungarian artist was made possible by Balázs Chovanecz, who possesses the largest and most complete collection of Gorga’s artworks. In parallel with the art exhibition, a uniquely detailed album entirely designated for the artist’s life work has also been published by the exhibition’s host,
Kieselbach Gallery. As of now, this is the largest compilation of Hungarian applied artworks that has ever been published.
Géza Gorka (1894-1971) was a 20th century Hungarian ceramicist who was known for his artistic versatility. He is among the most notable figures in the revival of ceramic arts in Europe, a virtuoso who achieved everything that was possible for a man of his profession. His name commonly appeared alongside Margit Kovács and István Gádor in the 1920s and 1930s, and together they formed the triad that brought about the renewal of ceramic arts.
According to Balázs Chovanecz, art collector and antiquarian and last but not least the most prominent collector of Gorka’s works, the collection was assembled from twenty different countries or so, ranging from Australia, Japan to Peru. Although the stormy decades of Hungarian history could have easily wrecked his advancing career multiple times, he managed to stay on track despite the hectic political climate of the country throughout that time.
By the time he reached his thirties, Gorka was in charge of his own ceramic manufactory. During this period, the young artist was markedly influenced by the style of Art Deco, which made his art truly blooming. The artworks of these fruitful years – fired clay ceramic sculptures decorated with a layer of unicolour rimulose glossy glaze (Bidtel) – were sought after domestically, as well as internationally. However, his ceramic repertoire did not only consist of sculptures but also lank geometrically shaped vases, table ornaments and masks. Subsequently, in the name of incessant artistic renewal, Gorka experimented with novel forms of glazing in the 1930s. Among many things, Gorka was mainly inspired by artefacts of the past, including old ceramics, recovered amphoras from the bottom of the sea, Chinese bowls with their elegant simplicity, the rimulose surface of antique objects and the wryness of rustic clay tiles. What’s more, even the shapes of the natural world, like that of flowing lava or gravels have had an impact on Gorka’s artistic development. The latter, ‘naturalistic’ influence was especially noticeable in his organically abstract vases, which resembled flowing lava or puffballs, made in the period spanning the 1930’s and the Second World War. These artworks, however, only gained appreciation from the European public some thirty years later in the 1960s, the so-called age of retro. Nonetheless, Gorka’s ceramics were displayed in such cities as Tokyo, Brussels, Milan, Amsterdam, London or even New York and thereby popularizing Hungarian folk art around the globe. His artworks did not only receive aesthetic acknowledgement but were subject to lucrative deals on the art market as well – in 1943 alone, Gorka’s ceramics were sold for a total of one-hundred thousand Pengő (Hungary’s currency at the time, comparable to hundreds of thousands of dollars today) for buyers in the Anglo-Saxon world. He can be regarded as a precursor of Mid-Century Modern, a design style that is particularly popular nowadays.
Throughout his career, Gorka’s ceramic art drew on styles such as Art Deco and Hungarian folk art as well as the modern design movement. His artworks ranged from vessels and sculptures made on a potter’s wheel to table ornaments and large-scale outdoor artworks. Despite the troublesome political circumstances of his age, Gorka was able to reach professional and commercial success domestically and internationally, including prestigious art awards as well. He was commonly referred to as the “Hungarian Picasso”.
The Second World War put an end to the Art Deco movement and as mentioned earlier, his extraordinary pieces of ceramics from this period fell victim to the rampage of Soviet soldiers in the final stage of the military conflict.
(Picasso VS. Gorka)
Gorka received his honourable epithet the “Hungarian Picasso” by foreign visitors to Hungary. Beyond their praises, there is even more connection between the world-renowned Andalusian artist and Gorka than this/their artistic style implies. The two have actually met. A ceramic made by Picasso on the wall of Gorka’s home by the river Danube in the town of Verőce serves as a memento for this meeting. The encounter took place in 1959, France, when with a group of Hungarian artists Gorka’s works were exhibited in Vallauris. Moreover, he even expressed his reservations to Picasso concerning “The Spaniard’s” approach to ceramics. By his account, ceramic arts represent an autonomous techniques with their specific rules like using specified raw materials and furnace. Specifically, Gorka argued against Picasso’s method of painting the clay as if it was canvas, similar to how Ancient Greek artist decorated ceramics. “One must learn the difference between a painter and a ceramicist.”- said Gorka about Picasso.
Today, the house that Géza Gorka once lived in functions as museum designated for the artist’s life work. His legacy, however, inspired a whole generation of ceramicist after he passed away. As of now, he is regarded as the icon of Hungarian Art Deco and “retro” ceramic arts. Balázs Chovanecz, art collector challenged the destiny of ceramics, in the sense that they are easily damaged, by tracking down the hidden pieces. In a time span of 15 years, his collection surpassed any other collector’s, counting more than one thousand ceramic artworks. This collection comprehensively reflects “The Unbreakable” ceramicist’s outstandingly diverse work of art.
