Epreskert Art Colony

Epreskert Art Colony ( hu, Epreskerti művésztelep; the name means "Mulberry Garden" in Hungarian) was an artists' colony in Budapest in the last decades of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Among the artists who worked and lived there the most important were sculptors György Zala and Adolf Huszár, and painter Árpád Feszty.

Location

The artists' colony was located in the Terézváros district of Budapest (District VI.) in the area of the former Epreskert garden. The colony occupied an oblong shaped block bounded by Bajza, Lendvay, Epreskert (after 1900 Munkácsy Mihály) and Kmety Street. In 1886 the block was divided into ten lots for ateliers. The Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts (now Hungarian University of Fine Arts) established its campus on the other side of Kmety Street.

History

The Epreskert was a municipal garden of mulberry trees on the outskirts of Pest which remained in agricultural usage until the 1870s. After the opening of Andrássy Avenue in 1871 the commercial value of the plot went up and urbanization began. In 1879 the municipal council donated a parcel on the corner of Bajza and Lendvay Streets to Adolf Huszár, a renowned sculptor who worked on prestigious municipal projects but was in need of a suitable workshop. Two years later Huszár built an atelier in fashionable Neo-Renaissance style and became the first artist to live there.

The garden was divided into two by the opening of a new street (called Kmety Street) in 1883. The Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts established its campus on the northern parcel. The southern city block was intended to become an artists' colony. Many famous artists applied for lots but the municipal council was slow to make decisions. The block was divided into nine plots (the tenth was Huszárs' property). In the first round only one plot was apportioned to painter Gyula Aggházy who built a house on the corner of Epreskert and Kmety Streets in 1884.

In 1886 three plots in Lendvay Street were leased by the municipality to sculptors György Zala, Gyula Donáth and Antal Szécsi. Kmety Street became the painter's row in 1890 when three plots were leased to Árpád Feszty, Ida Konek and Béla Pállik. Good political connections played a larger part in the decision than artistic merits.

Two neighbouring plots on 31-33 Kmety Street remained empty. The parcel was used by the municipality as storage place for cobble stones from 1897 until 1910 when it was sold for a private villa.

The colony flourished in the last decade of the 19th century. Rising property prices in the first decade of the 20th century caused a strong demand for plots suitable for building private villas. After the artists died or moved elsewhere the municipality sold their plots to developers. In 1914 there were only three ateliers in the former colony compared to five private villas, one cultural institution and one empty plot. The artists' colony practically ceased to exist but one atelier survived even after the second world war.

During the siege of Budapest the city block was seriously damaged. After the war many of ruined buildings were demolished and the plots on Lendvay Street (the former sculptor's row) were acquired by the Soviet authorities. Now this part of the block is used as an extension and garden of the Russian Embassy in Budapest.

Ateliers

* Villa Huszár (2 Lendvay Street) — The parcel on the corner of Lendvay and Bajza Streets was sold by the municipality to sculptor Adolf Huszár in 1879. The house-cum-atelier was built in 1881 by the plans of Kálmán Gerster in fashionable Neo-Renaissance style. The garden was larger than the other plots in the colony. Huszár worked on his last work, the sculpture of Hungarian statesman Ferenc Deák in his studio until his early death in 1885. The heirs of his estate leased the atelier to other sculptors but later sold the house to a property developer in 1889. The garden was divided and the house was converted to a private villa. It was enlarged and thoroughly rebuilt in 1925–27 by the plans of Emil Vidor. At present the house belongs to the Russian Embassy in Budapest.
* Atelier Donáth (6 Lendvay Street) — Sculptor Gyula Donáth's atelier was a simple wooden shed erected on the property in 1887. Donáth lived there until his death in 1909 when the studio was dismantled. The plot was sold to a developer but remained unbuilt.
* Atelier Szécsi (8 Lendvay Street) — Sculptor Antal Szécsi's atelier was a simple timber-framed building (1886) which was later enlarged by the artist. Szécsi lived in the colony until his death in 1904. The studio was leased by the municipality to sculptor Ede Telcs who used it for work but never lived here. The studio was leased to architect and sculptor Géza Maróti

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