2023-09-25 18:56:44
Magdolna Költő, the president of the board of trustees of the ResoArt Foundation, added that the villa can be visited with a guided tour after prior registration, and can also be viewed as part of an art nouveau walk starting from the Millennium House in Városliget. In addition, the building also opens its doors as a unique event venue.
As he said, the villa building combines the Hungarian direction of Art Nouveau with the prevailing international style features of the era. The facade is decorated with rich ornaments, the peculiarly shaped stained glass windows are flanked by peacocks, lion heads and spreading tendrils, and the pediment shows allegorical figures of painting, sculpture and art architecture. The wrought iron fence harmonizing with the facade is the work of Gyula Jungfer.
Upon entering the house, you can admire the huge glass window made in the workshop of Miksa Róth, which survived the vicissitudes of the last century in its original condition, and the colorful wrought iron staircase railing leading up to the first floor is the work of master locksmith József Hochmann.
As the employees of the ResoArt Foundation said, the Zsolnay exhibition, which occupies four rooms of the house, presents the factory’s success story from the 1870s to the end of the 1920s, tracing how Zsolnay became a world-famous company from a small Pécs manufactory.
In the first, “family” room, you can see the ceramics designed by Teréz and Júlia Zsolnay, inspired by Hungarian ethnographic motifs and oriental influences, as well as the works of Júlia’s husband, Tádé Sikorski, including a 185-centimeter-high giant vase bought for HUF 16 million, which used to be it could have been a decoration of the Gellért Hotel.
During the guided tours, visitors can get to know the outstanding works of the first 50 years, which can be considered the golden age of Zsolnay ceramics
Photo: Balázs Mohai / Source: ResoArt Villa
In the next room, Sikorski’s ceramics embellished with rich ornamentation were given a separate display case, against which Ármin Klein’s Western works, mainly following Renaissance patterns, form a contrast.
Although a significant part of Zsolnay’s income came from architectural and industrial ceramics, the decorative ceramics produced by the factory were a real luxury item, in its heyday Zsolnay used 34 kilograms of gold per year to decorate them. The exhibition presents the works of art of the 1890s, which often imitate embroidery, are pierced many times, are technically brilliant, and show an almost extreme proliferation of shapes and colors.
The factory’s second golden age was brought about by the Art Nouveau period and the discovery of eosin glaze, this period is examined in the Zsolnay room on the ground floor. The works of the designers of the new era, Sándor Abt Abt, Lajos Mack and Mihály Kapás, among others, are considered the style-creating works of the Hungarian Art Nouveau, and sometimes they even predate Art Deco – the foundation’s staff presented the exhibition.
Appointments for the ResoArt Villa exhibition and guided building tours can be booked in the Liget Budapest ticket system.
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