State Art and Its Abysmal Depths
A Conversation about the Spirit of the Times
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In autumn 2011, State Secretary Imre Kerényi commissioned 15 paintings, which were to depict the key moments in Hungary’s history. They range from the era of dualism to Trianon and to the birth of the new constitution. The pictures were exhibited and now illustrate the deluxe edition of the new constitution. Art historian András Rényi complains that a call for proposals and expert opinions were waived and sees in the project a parody of an authoritarian, administrative court art. The iconographic shortcomings in some of the images are so great that they fail to achieve one thing: apotheosis of the new constitution.
(Osteuropa 12/2011, pp. 393–431)