Two Centuries of Hungarian Painters, 1820-1970. Nicholas M. Salgo Collection; 1991. Softcover. (LF)

This art book is the first catalogue published in English of 19th- and 20th-century Hungarian paintings, drawings and prints by the leading Hungarian artists of that period. As the history of Hungarian art unfolds, the revolutionary cultural and political history of the country itself is opened to the viewer. Nicholas Salgo, the leading American collector whose appreciation of the arts of his native land has been with him since childhood, began seriously to acquire works of Hungarian painters during his tenure as Ambassador of the United States in Budapest. The introduction by Steve Mansbach discusses styles, periods and groups, and how they have been influenced by Hungary's raging politics through the post-Communist revolution of 1990. Mansbach provides a biography of each artist as well as references for and provenances of every work. Throughout, the special qualities of Hungarian painting - dynamic forms, vivid colours, strong emotionality - are shown.