Probably the only artist was graphic designer István Bakos, who raised the question in his inaugural lecture at the Hungarian Academy of Arts – in his inaugural lecture, no less! – What am I? For all members of the Academy have been working in their own artistic fields for many decades, and not only working, but all have achieved outstanding professional results and successes, and have a strong belief that what they do is an integral and indispensable part of their lives and the foundation of their human and artistic success, and most of them – probably without any doubt – do what they do. And then here is an excellent artist, a leading artist, who, after almost fifty years (!) of artistic activity, thought it important to ask this question in his inaugural lecture, the ‘condition’ of which should not only be a historical past, but also the answer. Well, such a question can only be asked by an artist with a deep-seated attitude of self-examination, and by an artist who works in an artistic discipline such as his.
After all, even the designation of this art form is not easy. It is colloquially known as commercial graphic design. It started out as poster graphics, which was the main self-contained art form in this field, but soon broadened its professional horizons and for a long time, was also known as mercantile graphics (because of its organic link and existence with commerce), for a long time, the term applied graphics became established as a technical term, indicating the difference from autonomous graphics and the need to adapt this field to the advertising and publicity of a specific task. But there was a justified demand that this art form be more than that, and in recent decades, the term ‘graphic design’ has become established, which really does express the possibility of developing autonomous artistic ambitions and visions, with serious design considerations, where there is almost no room for instinct. And the translation of this expression aligns with the internationally accepted name for this art form: graphic design.
The cherry on top of the cake is that graphic designers are nowadays trained in higher education institutions in visual communication, which is also a defining characteristic of this field. The odd thing is that it is almost the only discipline to have undergone so many name changes, and it is also the youngest of the visual arts, since it is really the only thing that can be classified here: it is the child of capitalism. The poster, as a Dutch–German word meaning wall sticker, is a work of art in which image, text, and attention-grabbing are equally important, and all of which must be produced with an artistic toolkit.
The first illustrated poster dates back to the 17th century, but the first colour poster was only produced after 1865, and to avoid getting too far off track, we’ll immediately point out that this was the time of perhaps the greatest genius of poster design to date, Henry de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was born 150 years ago in 2014, and who also created his genre-defining posters using the lithography technique, also invented at the time. His name is important not only to commemorate his genius, but also to remind us that the creators and, for a long time, the practitioners of the poster were painters expressis verbis. And at least to move on to the field of Hungarian art: we also have no less an artist than Gyula Benczúr, the creator of the first Hungarian colour poster, who designed the poster for the National General (sic!) At the 1885 exhibition, full of impressive painterly values, he launched an era in which painters took a decisive role. Perhaps posters will also flash to mind for many if we mention the names of József Rippl-Rónai, Károly Ferenczy, Róbert Berény, Sándor Bortnyik, and Lajos Kassák, whose posters are also legendary works of art, although their main values in life differ. But: a field of art is slowly emerging which requires special skills, talent, and preparation, and this – let us call it – is advertising graphics, whose specialisms are expanding from book, publication, page, and typography design to menu and flyer design, from exhibition design, exhibition installation design to magazine design, from emblems to logos, from information systems to calendar design, with many, many tasks. In all cases, this artist has to be well-versed in many things, familiar with many disciplines, and work with many people.
Well, such an artist is István Bakos, who already excelled at the legendary Török Pál Street Art High School in painting and drawing, and who can boast of the most outstanding painting teacher of his time, László Viski Balás, who encouraged him to choose this career. At the College of Fine Arts (now: Hungarian University of Fine Arts), he first became a student of painting – after a few minor twists and turns – only to come into contact for a short time with György Konecsni, the most outstanding teacher of the time (the 1960s!), and to have his career choice finally decided (nota bene: Konecsni is a highly talented applied graphic artist, but he is represented by a superb painting in the reorganised 20th-century permanent exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery!)
From the late sixties onwards, Bakos was noticed (stood out!) for his excellent cultural posters, which won the Best Poster of the Year competition almost every year, taking the grand prize in 1976 and 1978.
In a move that went against the increasingly technical graphic design trends of the time, the young artist painted his posters in oils and acrylics to create a regular image, then filled them with typographic information. But always in such a way that the finished, actual poster stood before us as an integral work.
What will remain in our memories – among others – is the almost raw symbolism of his highly suggestive, gripping, it is safe to say, work from 1976, created for Zoltán Fábri’s movie Ötödik pecsét (I), based on the powerful novel by Ferenc Sánta; his distressing poster for Luchino Visconti’s The Innocent (1978) or his work for Alberto Sordi’s film An Average Little Man, which expresses the extremes of a man’s soul. It was in 1978, during this period, that he created what is perhaps his most comprehensive and influential poster for Büchner’s Danton’s Death at the National Theatre. It is simply a scene of a stormy sea, very expressively painted, with a large drop of blood above it, captured by its creator just before the crash. The poster is simple, yet foreboding and tragic, yet far from naturalistic. The young designer at the time (having moved beyond the spectacular, though not at all unsuccessful, era of pop art!) was keen to use a surrealistic, symbolic approach. These works are fresh, vivid, and authentic, even after almost four decades (!). Often, their greyish tones suggest an era in which they were made. Among these works is the poster for András Kovács’ cult film Ménesgazda (The Stud Farm), deliberately restrained in its use of colour but, for that very reason, powerfully evocative.
It is also symbolically beautiful that in those years, he made posters for movies by young film directors who are now fellow members of the Hungarian Academy of Arts. Thus, it is important to note the thoughtful, empathetic posters for Marcell Jankovics’ János Vitéz (Johnny Corncob) or Ferenc András’ Veri az ördög a feleségét (Rain and Shine).
Then, in the course of the proliferating publication design, István Bakos was confronted with advertising photographs taken by photographers and intended for his use, and he was forced to conclude that in many cases, these images were not coherent, uninspired, or even unimaginative; therefore, he began to photograph the publications and posters he was designing himself. It was a good decision. Bakos became one of the most outstanding photographers among Hungarian graphic designers, finding new applications for photography in his foreign trade and advertising, as well as in posters and publications, creating inventive, original ideas and environments, always with a high level of technical sophistication. As an artist who had already achieved success, he did not consider it beneath him to acquire new knowledge from his older graphic designer colleague József Finta (not to be confused with the architect!), who was the most successful photographer at the time.
His works for Mino, Tanimpex, Artex, Elektroimpex, and Hungarotex in the eighties were made striking by the use of a freshness, a startling setting or – in the case of brochures and posters – a gag, which was not common in the past, but again, we stress: a uniquely excellent use of photography, colour, and objects (props!). He calls his way of photographing, which he has created, photo-design, because, for him, photography is never an end but a means. But this is how he has achieved being recognised as the best in his field.
Let us add, it is typical of the world of foreign trade (!) under the Kádár regime that the publications he designed were not even seen in Hungary; they consisted only of foreign-language brochures and advertising texts, and their success in Western Europe was frenetic. It's a nice twist that, as Bakos had little opportunity to travel to the West at that time (two of his brothers defected...), most of his photographs – and this is easy to discover after a not so careful inspection – almost always contain a reference to some kind of confinement (seclusion!), with fences, bars, and walls organised into a profane visual effect.
And last but not least, the models, always carefully chosen, enhanced the works’ aesthetic quality. And his posters (calendar pages!), which also carried a subtle eroticism, became the most popular decorations in Hungarian car repair shops, to the extent that the creator himself no longer owns any copies of them...
At this time, his vision and interest almost inevitably led him to commercials, and he also produced successful works in this genre, for example, at the Budapest Spring Festival.
Then, after the regime change, he started designing upmarket magazines, and his work took him into the world of giant posters, where he tried not to bow to the client’s wishes but to incorporate his design qualities, taste, and wealth of ideas as much as possible.
And nowadays, thanks to the activity of the Hungarian Poster Society, founded in 2004, he is once again producing posters, again with a painterly, cartoonish toolkit, with themes that have always been close to him: the delicate and difficult to find an original solution (but he managed!) to the Trianon issue, the 1956 revolution, or the Verdi jubilee, when the poster of Nabucco could create an exceptional ensemble of symbols. In these works, István Bakos’ strong sense of national identity is suggestively manifested, as is the ars poetica that he himself has formulated, according to which a good poster is one that ‘catches the eye’, and he expresses it in a plastic, original but suggestive way, when he writes that what is ‘eye-popping’ and – as a final argument – a slap in the face, is true, and is received with good feeling. Well, so are his older and more recent posters, indeed. His slaps are welcome...
Towards the end of this article, there is an untied ‘thread’, the question ‘What am I?’. Namely, whether István Bakos is a painter, graphic artist, draughtsman, photographer, design photographer, or commercial designer? At the outset, we argued that such a question could only be asked by an artist with a deep sense of self-examination and who is practising a branch of art like his. And by the time we come to the end, we are confident that all this is perceptible.
Bakos always believed in his talent, but he was also always self-examining, with a strong moral foundation, and while he cultivated the aforementioned professions – each of which was in itself a separate entity – and all of them to a high degree, he rose to become one of our most complex – we have long sought the word, to be precise – artists creating visual scenery. It is very good to see that the ever-creative drawing, as sketch, crock, throwaway line (?), or brilliant use of the painterly toolbox, is still fundamental to his artistic method.
The synthesis of drawing, painting, photography, and design has thus resulted in a designer’s oeuvre that, with its vivacity, intellectual power, and complexity of visuality, is now a defining achievement in Hungarian graphic design and even in Hungarian fine art. In other words, the question posed is morally legitimate, indicating an ethical stance, but in artistic terms, we have a definite and certain answer, which is only confirmed by the values of the oeuvre.
It may not even belong in an art glossary, but it is worth noting that István Bakos has been through a lot in recent years. He is recovering from his illness with the help of his family’s fantastic willpower and protective support. In his artistic activities, however, he is already a full man.
[2015]