Judit Kende, ceramicist, in the shadow of Margit Kovács

We are primarily drawing on Wikipedia to recount the life of Judit Kende, a ceramicist from Győr, supplemented by information from other sources cited below. It is an interesting coincidence that three later, renowned female artists of Jewish descent – Kende, Kovács and Anhalzer – attended the Kazinczy Ferenc Grammar School in Győr almost simultaneously.

P. Krausz

Her life

Judit Kende, née Judit Kende, wife of Imre Kis, was born in Iharosberény on 3 January 1903 and died in Budapest on 3 April 1979.

She spent her childhood in the Kisalföld region, on the Pillingérpuszta estate near Abda.

The Győr daily Kisalföld published the following account of the artist by Éva Somogyi on 19 July 1980 (source: Abda.hu)

Judit Kende was born in Iharosberény, Somogy County (3 January 1903). Her parents were Lajos Kende and Anna Laendler. Her siblings were Margit and Kálmán.

Lajos Kende, an Estate Manager, had been managing Antal Laendler’s estate in Pillingér-puszta, Abda, since 1917. The family’s home in Pillingér-puszta – referred to by the people of Abda simply as the ‘castle’ – was a long, multi-roomed house. It was not actually a ‘castle’; the villagers simply referred to it as such because, compared to the village houses in Abda at the time, that large residential building appeared to them to be a ‘castle’. The long house stood in beautiful surroundings – it still stands today, though it has, of course, been converted into several residential units – and is still inhabited today.

The access road leading off the main road was flanked on both sides by huge white-trunked trees. A branch of the ’Dead’ Danube flowed nearby… an abundance of wildflowers, trees, bushes and meadows…

Judit Kende spent her childhood here in Abda, on the Pilingéri Puszta, … The years of her childhood and youth spent here left a deep impression on her sensitive soul and preserved the many beauties of this landscape in her memory.

In 1922, she took her school-leaving examination at the Hungarian Royal State Girls’ Grammar School in Győr (now the Ferenc Kazinczy Grammar School). During her secondary school years, she attended Ágnes Valker’s art classes alongside her classmate Margit Kovács and Olga Anhalzer, a pupil from a higher year. From 1922 to 1926, she studied graphic art and porcelain painting at Álmos Jaschik’s private school in Budapest; then, in 1926–1927, she travelled to Vienna with Margit Kovács, where they learnt the techniques of ceramic art under the guidance of Hertha Bucher, who was working there.

Upon her return, she married the engineer Imre Kis on 6 November 1927, and later that same year set up her studio in Budapest. As a protégée of István Gádor, alongside Géza Gorka and László Illés, she headed the ceramics department at Dezső Orbán’s art design and workshop school, the Atelier, from its foundation in 1931 until 1939. During the Second World War, her husband fell victim to the Holocaust; Kende spent the years following 1945 in seclusion, devoting herself to her art.

In accordance with her wishes, her ashes were laid to rest on 27 April 1979 at the Jewish cemetery of Győr-Sziget.

Her artistic activity

“Lamps, vessels, space-dividing compositions and non-figurative decorative elements are cheerful, tasteful expressions of this artist’s creative spirit, characterised by a rich imagination and confident technique. His fairy-tale motifs – ‘The Sky Splits’, ‘The Earth Shakes’ and the design for the well at the Hódmezővásárhely nursery school – are composed in a colourful and cheerful manner.” (From a review of her solo exhibition in 1970)

The sources of inspiration for her artistic style were folk pottery and Art Deco, the latter of which she came to know more closely during her studies in Vienna. Her three-dimensional sculptures, decorative and functional ceramic objects are characterised by pastel tones, glazes in subdued colours, and a simple yet sensitive and playful range of forms, harmoniously adorned with botanical and geometric patterns. At the same time, her objects are not mere ornaments; they are imbued with a sense of functionality and practicality. She primarily designed and created ceramic bowls, vases, candle- and lamp-holders, wall hangings and room dividers. She was renowned amongst Hungarian potters for her exceptional wheel-throwing technique.

From 1925 onwards, she exhibited her works at both domestic and international exhibitions. In 1932, she won a silver medal at the 4th National Crafts Exhibition; she also returned with silver medals from the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris and the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. She worked in seclusion; her first solo exhibition, held jointly with tapestry artist Erzsébet Benkő, did not take place until 1970 at the Adolf Fényes Hall in Budapest.

The fate of her works

After her death, her sister, Margit Kende, donated the 141 ceramics comprising her legacy to the János Xantus Museum in Győr. In 1980, the first Judit Kende memorial exhibition was organised at the Győr museum from this collection. When this exhibition closed in 1981, a permanent exhibition of the ceramics was organised at the Carmelite convent in Győr, which moved to the main building of the János Xantus Museum in 1983.

Several of her works are held by the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest and the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs. In 2014, an exhibition of her works was held at the Abda local council offices, where she grew up; her ceramics, displayed in showcases, have now found a permanent home here at the Civilház.

*Judit Kende’s ceramics at the Abda village hall – Source:* *Wikipedia*

In the Győr daily Kisalföld, on 19 July 1980 (the author’s full name is missing – ed.), the following was written about the artist (source: abda.hu)

“It is a matter close to my heart that my sister’s ceramics should find a home in your museum and be preserved there,” wrote Margit Kende to the János Xantus Museum in Győr early this January. Her wish has been fulfilled – this spring, 141 works by the recently deceased ceramic artist Judit Kende were brought to the city. A commemorative exhibition featuring works from the artist’s legacy has opened at the museum, which the public can view throughout the summer.

Who was Judit Kende? It is fair to say she was one of Hungary’s finest potters. The Encyclopaedia of Art, however, offers no guidance; her name is familiar only to artists and those within the profession.

Her life can be characterised in a single word: reclusive. She worked, experimented and, withdrawing from the world, created her functional and decorative ceramics. She did not seek to bring her name to the attention of the public, nor did she take part in exhibitions. The press wrote very little about her.

Having survived the horrors of the concentration camps, she did not address questions of destiny in her work. Yet she clearly would have had something to say in this respect. Instead, she modelled objects and ornaments found in our everyday surroundings with great care and diligence. Her antique-style jugs with simple decoration, her slender vases, and the functional flowerpot covers are both beautiful and practical; they are, in their simplicity, symbols of the artist’s introspective nature.

The legacy of nearly 150 ceramics rightly represents Judit Kende’s life’s work.

*In *Kende’s atelier – Source*:* *Abda.hu*

It is a particular pleasure that these works enrich Győr’s collection of artistic value. The ceramicist, who was born in Somogy, spent her childhood here; she studied at the former girls’ grammar school alongside Margit Kovács, who was a year her senior, and they began exploring the secrets of shaping clay at the same time. And although they followed different paths in art, their friendship lasted a lifetime.

Judit Kende worked in her Budapest studio from 1927 onwards. Yet her memories of Győr left their mark on her art – in her ceramic ornaments, we can recognise the city’s distinctive buildings and characteristic motifs. Her attachment to the landscape and the town was also reflected in her last will and testament; her ashes were buried in Győr. Her connection to the town was made complete when her collection was bequeathed to the János Xantus Museum.

Mini Gallery of a few works of Judit Kende