By György Polgár
Győr’s most famous artist was Jewish. Did her roots play a role in her life?
One of the founders of modern Hungarian ceramic art, Margit Kovács, was born in 1902 into a neolog Jewish family in Győr. Her father, Zoltán, was a mathematics and physics teacher at the Révai Grammar School, who Magyarized his surname from Klein in 1890. He died at the early age of 41. Her mother, Ilona Heller, a relative of the recently deceased world renown philosopher, Ágnes Heller, owned a boarding school for boys. Margit Kovács had a very intimate relationship with her, and they lived together until her mother’s death. The artist never married, and we know of no love or partner. She had one sister, Erzsébet.
After graduating from high school, Margit Kovács worked as a bank clerk – although she was not very good at the job, as she once admitted. But she loved drawing – she took classes at the Győr Girls’ High School – and was interested in ceramics. She studied graphic art at the private school of Álmos Jaschik in Budapest from 1924, and porcelain painting at the School of Applied Arts, thanks to her maternal uncle Jenő Heller. In 1926 she moved to Vienna, where she learned the basics of this art from one of the most renowned ceramists of the time, Hertha von Bucher. In 1932 she relocated to Copenhagen, where she trained with Paul Gaguin’s son, Jean René Gaugin. She also worked at the famous porcelain factory in Sèvres, France. Upon her return to Budapest, she transformed her kitchen into a studio. She had her first solo exhibition at the Tamás Gallery in 1928, and immediately attracted the attention of her contemporaries. From then on, she took part in several shows in Hungary, as well as at the Paris and Brussels World Exhibitions, the Biennale di Venezia, in Rome and in Turin. She was heading towards an exceptional career.
Development
By combining the use of the pottery wheel and delicate sculpting, Margit Kovács created a series of works artistically transcending the boundary between fine and applied arts. Her smaller figures were simplified into cones, while the larger ones were column-like. She subsequently added ornamentation to her figures. As time went on, she produced more and more block-like works.
Her topics were inexhaustible. Religious pieces appeared at an early stage in her works, and accompanied her throughout her career, albeit with varying intensity. They include some of her initial monumental masterpieces, such as the Portal of the St. Imre Church in Győr or the pulpit of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Komárom. From the very beginning she enjoyed creating rustic works, even though she had never lived in a rural setting. Famous examples include her Masonry Heater, which won a Gold Medal at the 1938 exhibition of the Society of Applied Arts, and sculptures, such as the Bundt-Cake Madonna. In the Rákosi era, religion was relegated to the background, so she primarily worked on folk themes (Family Photo Album, Wedding), while socialist realist works also featured prominently (the decorative fountain at the Pioneers’ Department Store). After the 1956 revolution, she daringly returned to Biblical scenes. In addition, figures from the Greek mythology, sagas, and fairy tales (Cantata Profana, The Parcae) completed her repertoire. As she grew older, the transience of life appeared more and more frequently in her works. Colours faded, if not disappeared (Old Fisherman, Birth, Marriage, Death). In her last wall decorations, geometric motifs started to play a role, The 700-Year-History of Győr is a good example. Regardless of her family background, she refrained from creating ceramics inspired by Judaism.
Margit Kovács became a celebrated artist-star; not only the favourite of the public, but also of the communist rulers. She was among the first to receive the prestigious Kossuth Prize in 1948. Rarely is a museum dedicated to someone in their lifetime, but in 1973 she could even pick a private home to house her exhibition in Szentendre. Incidentally, the owner of the building was practically evicted. For many years probably no other gallery in the country had received more visitors than hers. Her work became a tool of diplomacy, too. Almost every state guest, from Iran’s Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev, was taken to see the exhibition. During his historic visit to the Vatican, János Kádár presented Pope Paul VI. with a Margit Kovács ceramic.
Never Talked About Her Heritage
Some of her Old Testament-themed ceramics (Moses, Noah, and Noah’s wife) may seem to have a connection to Judaism, but to think it a certainty would be quite a stretch. Her sculpture May His Soul Be Tied to the Bond of Life contains a Jewish epitaph, it, however, can at best be seen as a brief excursion into the world of Judaism.
Photo: © György Polgár
Very little is known about her private life, yet she has been the subject of articles, books, and interviews. She happily talked about her art, but never answered personal questions, or, if yes, only evasively, although they were not indiscreet, because at that time it was not as common practice as nowadays, being violently curious, even passing into the bedroom. Even the highly experienced and famous journalist, Tamás Vitray could not break through her defences during their lengthy conversation on his popular tv-show ‘Ötszemközt’ (in free translation: ‘You, I and the Camera’).
There is no reliable information about Margit Kovács’ Yiddishkeit. This is one of the many mysteries surrounding her, as she has never spoken about it – not publicly, at least. One can only guess. We know that she grew up in an assimilated Jewish family, but whether they were observant, or not, we can only assume; most probably not, or just superficially. She survived the besieging of Budapest and the terror of the Arrow Cross Party at the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945 in a so-called ‘protected house’ at 1 Pozsonyi Street, ‘safeguarded’ by the Swedish – or, according to her sister’s recall, the Spanish government. On one occasion an Arrow Cross Party member broke into the building, but no one was harmed. We know that her immediate family – her mother, sister, uncle and aunt – survived the war, the latter two having emigrated to Switzerland. In a passport application form, Margit Kovács stated that several members of her family perished in the war, but who they were is not known. According to the granddaughter of glass artist Júlia Báthory, a close friend of hers, Júlia hid Margit with nuns in Pécs during the most unsafe times. No details are available, however, and Margit Kovács never mentioned this either.
Sára Karig, a literary translator, to whom many Jews, British prisoners of war and Hungarian deserters owed their lives, was recognised among the Righteous of the World by Yad Vashem. Miklós Radnóti’s wife, Fanni Gyarmati, whose mother was also hidden by Karig, wrote the required certification in 1965 and this document was witnessed by Margit Kovács and her mother.
She certainly had many Jewish friends and acquaintances, including Miklós Radnóti and his wife, who lived in the same building as Margit, or the photographer André Kertész and his wife Erzsébet Salamon. Her circle of friends also included György Aczél, the almighty cultural czar of the Kádár regime, whom she knew from his days as an amateur actor. In her youth, she was in touch with several Jewish acquaintances in Győr. During her stay in Denmark, she stayed at his father’s friend’s house, the physicist Gyula Perl. Perl’s wife, the painter Alma Bissen, most probably helped her in her studies in Copenhagen.
Another important relation in Győr was the Jewish Bánki family. Mrs Olga Bánki (neé Goldschmidt) and Ilona Heller were friends, and this relationship was passed on to their children, Margit and Ödön. Ödön had to emigrate after the downfall of the 1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic, because of his activities in the Hungarian Communist Youth Workers’ Association. He eventually settled in the Netherlands. A coffee set made for him by Margit Kovács proves their close connection.
Many believe she converted to Christianity at some point and became a bigoted Catholic. Proponents of this theory see the evidence in her numerous Christian-themed works and the absence of Jewish ones. According to Zsófia Szilágyi, curator of the Kovács Margit Museum in Szentendre, her catholicising was only formal. When Vitray asked her on air, whether she was religious, she said that she was not, but that she had “faith”. For certain, during socialism, declaring someone’s religiousness publicly was not a career-boosting factor at all. Shortly before her passing on 4 June 1977, she had a confidential conversation with György Aczél, who at her request put their conversation to paper. On display in the Szentendre museum, the note reveals that she has never been religious.
One important question remains: how was she able to prevail unrestricted in the Horthy-era, which was characterized by chauvinism and the emphasis on Christian (i.e., non-Jewish) beliefs, despite her being a Jew? However much she may have denied, or tried to conceal this fact, the authorities certainly knew. Yet she was allowed to represent the country with the Queen of the Danube at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition. Given her Jewish roots, she really should not have stood much of a chance. But the government wanted to present Hungary to the outside world as a state that faithfully combined its folkloristic traditions with modern urban life. Margit Kovács’ works best suited this aim, and seemed to be more important than ideology.
Everybody’s Darling
Margit Kovács has always been a lovable, seemingly naive lady, but in fact she has built her career from the very beginning as a skilful businesswoman with incredible confidence. Her image was shaped as much by her concealment of her Jewish roots, as by her mysteriousness and her possibly artificial rural dialect. The same awareness is reflected in her choice of subjects, which fit neatly into the political systems of the given day: she produced works on religious themes during the pre-war Christian era, and according to the ideology of the time, when the communist approach was in vogue during the harsh regime of Mátyás Rákosi. Under the more permissive socialism of János Kádár, she was able to return to religious works, although these were no longer monumental. And rural genre scenes were always grateful subjects, regardless of the political systems. Although she complained that the demand for her smaller sculptures was too great, she met it diligently, almost on a large-scale production.
Her works are easy to understand, and do not require any particular knowledge of art history. Whether they are colourful or pale, sweet or dramatic, fairytale-like or realistic, religious or secular, her timeless works exude charm and warmth, combined with unrivalled professionalism. Everyone will find something that speaks to her/him personally. This is the greatest secret of Margit Kovács’s popularity.
Her exhibitions in Győr or Szentendre are definitely worth a visit.
Translated by Viktor and György Polgár
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to my cousin Esther Bánki, Director of the Van ‘t Lindenhout Museum in the Netherlands, for her advice and information she gave
and to Zsófia Júlia Szilágyi, Head of Department of the Ferenczy Museum Centre and curator of the Kovács Margit Museum in Szentendre, for the information received.
Resources
- Yearbook of the Győr Girls’ High School (Győr, 1917)
- Esther Bánki: Uncle Gyula, Website of the Jewish Roots in Győr Foundation
- Esther Bánki: verbal information
- Hivatásának szerelmese – 120 éve született Kovács Margit (Hungarian News Agency, November 30, 2022)
- Hulej Emese: Az érthető, a szerethető, a rejtélyes – ki volt Kovács Margit? (Magyar Krónika)
- Makrai Sonja: A művész, akit a Horthy-korszakot követően a kommunista éra is elfogadott (Magyar Hang, May 3, 2019)
- Kenyeres Ágnes (editor): Magyar életrajzi lexikon, javított, átdolgozott kiadás (Arcanum Adatbázis Kiadó Kft.)
- Nóra Veszprémi: Artwork of the Month, December 2022: Bundt-Cake Madonna by Margit Kovács (1938) – Continuity/Rupture: Art and Architecture in Central Europe, 2022. 12. 27.
- Ősz Katalin: A nővér telefonált… (Családi Lap)
- P. Brestyánszky Ilona: Kovács Margit (1982, Corvina – Képzőművészeti Alap Kiadóvállalata)
- Szilágyi Zsófia Júlia: verbal information
- Unknown author: Lelke legyen bekötve az élet kötelékébe (Vásárhelyi Hírek, September 19, 2014)