Margit Kovács (1902–1977) was a Hungarian

ceramist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While ...

and sculptor.

Life

Margit Kovács was born into a Jewish Hungarian family in

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

on 30 November 1902. She originally wished to become a graphic artist but she grew interested in ceramics in the 1920s and went to study in Vienna with Hertha Bücher, a famous Austrian ceramic artist, from 1926-1928. Then she studied clay modelling in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

at the State School of Applied Arts under Karl Killer (1928–29). She was a fellow student here, then lifelong friend of Julia Bathory, glass artist. She studied in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1932 and in 1933 she was at

Sèvres Porcelain Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

factory where she mastered the art of modelling with chamotte clay to make figures. She won international awards in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

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Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. She was very popular in Hungary and received many public commissions. The Communist regime gave her the Distinguished Artist Award in 1959.

Work

Her first public exhibition was in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in 1928 and from then on her output was prolific and she continued working throughout the Second World War. She produced statuettes, pots, plates, wall plaques and tiled murals. Her main themes are country folk, family life and bible stories. Her work is very varied but is characterised by flowing lines which curve sensually to evoke sentiment. One of her most significant works of religious art is the portal of the Saint Emeric Church (''Szent Imre templom'') of Győr (1939–1940). Several of her ceramic murals are still visible in Budapest and other cities. Those in Budapest at the time of her death were:Pataky-Brestyánszky In 1972 she donated the majority of her work to the Pest County Museums Directorate in

Szentendre Szentendre, also known as Saint Andrew is a riverside town in Pest County, Hungary, between the capital city Budapest and Pilis Mountains, Pilis-Visegrád Mountains. The town is known for its museums (most notably the :hu: Szentendrei Szabadtéri ...

. A museum of her work was opened in 1973 in Vastagh Street, Szentendre. There is also a collection in Győr.

Death

Kovács died in Budapest on 4 June 1977. Her grave is in Farkasréti Cemetery in Budapest.

Gallery

File:Kovács Margit kerámia Kozma Lajos Régiposta utcai bérházán.jpg, Old Post Office Building in a Budapest street File:Kovács Margit kerámia Budapest Vármegye utca.jpg, Plaque in Vármegye street, Budapest File:Kovács Margit Budavári kerámia.jpg, Ceramic panel at the Bécsi Gate of Buda Castle

References

* Lea Schenk, ''Margit Kovács Photo Album'', Budapest, 2007 (2001) * Ilona Pataky-Brestyánszky, ''Margit Kovács'', Budapest, Corvina/Képzőművészti Kiadó, 1976

External links

The Kovács museum

International Art Portal

Pottery, Politics and Identity: Three Hungarian Ceramicists and the Central European Diaspora
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Margit 1902 births 1977 deaths Hungarian ceramists Hungarian sculptors Hungarian women ceramists Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery 20th-century Hungarian sculptors 20th-century Hungarian women artists 20th-century ceramists Hungarian women sculptors 20th-century women sculptors