CLOSE-UPS 2 – Barcsay Through the Lens of Portrait Photographers in the 1960s–1980s

Presented apropos of the Barcsay 125 Memorial Year, Close-up 2 is a concise exhibition where Barcsay’s distinctive, emblematic figure can be seen through the lens of some of the iconic portrait photographers of the 1960s to the 1980s. It was from the second half of the 1960s that more and more photo series were made of the artist, depicting him in one of the three main locations in his life: Szentendre (mostly in his studio in Zenta Street or while walking the streets); in his home at Kodály Circus; or in the anatomy classroom of the Academy of Fine Arts. The portraitists were some of the best-known photographers of the period: István Tóth made sensitive likenesses, Tamás Féner created bold compositions, and Zsuzsa G. Fábri was given access to the master in his home. In the famous series Edit Molnár made in 1974, Barcsay can be seen while teaching artistic anatomy, while Éva Keleti photographed him in the second half of the 1950s. Others who took photos of him include Demeter Balla, Károly Gink, Sándor Bojár, István Kollár, an undeservedly forgotten photographer from Esztergom, Géza Szebellédy, a photojournalist who was also deputy CEO of the Hungarian News Agency, and Mária Sziklás, whose series of Barcsay at work designing the mosaic for the National Theatre in 1965 is of great source value. While preparing for the exhibition, we found a photograph André Kertész took in 1934 at the National Salon in Budapest, where, among others, Barcsay can be recognized, and we discovered formerly unpublished colour photos in the estate of photographer Jolán Gajzágó, who documented work on the Szentendre mosaic.

Although the photographs span several decades, their iconography is very similar: the bespectacled and bearded Jenő Barcsay, who looks spruce even in his work clothes, can be seen teaching or painting, in the company of his own works or in his most intimate surroundings. While these photos of the archetypal artist may reveal little of his psyche, every one of them is expressive of his elegance, his dedication, his standing in the community and the respect with which he is treated. The public image constructed by these photos was promoted in almost every organ of the contemporary press, from dailies through specialist journals to popular magazines. Jenő Barcsay was without a doubt one of the most well-known artists of his time, embodying the concept of the artist to wide swathes of the public. Jenő Barcsay’s distinctive figure comes to life at this exhibition through the works of twenty-five photographers and four visual artists.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
ÁCS Irén, BALLA Demeter, BENCSEKY Mátyás, BOJÁR Sándor, CZEIZING Lajos, CSIPES Antal, DEIM Péter, ESCHER Károly, FEJÉR Zoltán György, FÉNER Tamás, G. FÁBRI Zsuzsa, GAJZÁGÓ Jolán, GÁTI György, GINK Károly, HALMÁGYI Péter, HORVÁTH Péter, KELETI Éva, André KERTÉSZ, KOLLÁR István, MOLNÁR Edit, SZEBELLÉDY Géza, SZIKLÁS Mária, SZLUKOVÉNYI Tamás, TÓTH István, ZINNER Erzsébet
BÁNOVSZKY Miklós, BORSOS Miklós, JEGES Ernő, KMETTY János