The oeuvre of Pál Kő, spanning several decades, together with his highly active role in the artistic public sphere and his significant achievements as an art educator, has been documented rather rhapsodically and superficially in Hungarian art and art-historical literature. In fact, the only comprehensive treatment of Kő's sculpture is the small monograph written by art historian Gyula Rózsa and published in 1976 by the Képzőművészeti Alap Publishing House – but, of course, this could only deal with the early phase of his career. Later on, further publications appeared, each following a specific editorial principle. Alongside these independent volumes, numerous occasional catalogues and brochures were also issued, and when we glance at the lengthy bibliography documenting his oeuvre, the list of exhibition leaflets, reviews, reports, and articles appears virtually endless. It is striking, however, that in the sea of literature we cannot find a single comprehensive, analytical study of the artistic phenomenon represented by the oeuvre. And it is also revealing that the literature summarising modern Hungarian art discusses the artist's work only in passing.
Overall, taking his career as a whole and considering its general characteristics, it can be said that although Pál Kő organized numerous exhibitions – including his first major one at the Kunsthalle in Budapest in 1972 – his reputation as a sculptor was established primarily through his "monumental" works: public commissions created in enduring materials, conceived for communal spaces with a claim to permanence. Spanning the last third of the twentieth century and extending into the first decade after the turn of the millennium, these works constitute one of the most important chapters and determining phenomena of modern Hungarian sculpture. It may be stated without fear of error that in the early stages of his career, in the 1970s and 1980s, his creative activity was more closely linked to the sphere of small-scale sculpture, and then, gradually public space compositions made on commission became the dominant feature of his sculptural practice. By placing the term "monumental" in quotation marks, we wish to emphasize that in an era of loud exaggerations, oversized dimensions, overwhelming emptiness, and meaningless gestures, Kő's works preserved a sense of human scale, an intimacy within monumentality. Naturally, the authenticity of a work does not dissipate merely because of its monumental size and elementary expression, nor is it guaranteed solely by small scale. One of the most essential and defining qualities of his oeuvre is that, alongside the series of "monumental" works, his small-scale sculptures, medals, and drawings accompanying and preparing his plastic works together have testified from the 1960s to the present that in his career there are no great turning points, radical shifts, or sharply distinct phases. At the same time, identifying unifying traits and connecting threads is equally difficult, for every work constitutes a world of its own. Pál Kő carves wood and stone, casts bronze, shapes and fires terracotta, employs unusual materials such as hair, leather, cloth, or bone, combines different substances, incorporates found objects into his compositions, and at times dresses his figures in real garments. Equally varied is the thematic range of his works – sculptures in the round and reliefs, medals, and angular drawings: peasant figures, historical personalities, kings and street sweepers, poets, saints, contemporary artists, and characters from folktales all take shape, either standing alone or as actors in scenes imbued with a ballad-like, fairy-tale, or nostalgic atmosphere. Through his acts of emphasis, even a single object becomes eloquent. At times his works evoke the world of ponderous medieval stone carvings; at others they can be paralleled with folk handicrafts, object-making, and decorative arts. Elsewhere, the dreaminess and visionary quality of Surrealism pulses through his compositions, or he unsettles, startles, and compels meditation from viewers by presenting elements of reality in their everyday immediacy, blurring the line between the artificial and the real. Within his oeuvre there are no great turning points, but a gradual process of classicization can be observed. Approaching the turn of the millennium and thereafter, the rustic character and rawer forms of expression are gradually reduced, the once striking formal inventions lose some of their sharpness, the compositions become more homogeneous, and technically the artist returns to traditional methods of execution: most often modelling and casting in bronze. Small sculptures, portraits, commemorative statues, portrait-monuments, memorials, tombs, medals, and occasional medallions – all these traditional categories of sculpture may include the works of Pál Kő; yet his compositions consistently break the classical rules of genres and forms, expand their boundaries, and enrich them with ever-new elements: with irregular modes of spatial placement, with novel uses and treatments of material, with unexpected solutions in shaping mass and form, all suffused with expressive power.
Szárnykészítő (Wing-Maker)
The wooden sculptures from Kő Pál's early career were first presented to the public at the 1968 exhibition of the Fiatal Képzőművészek Stúdiója (Studio of Young Artists), and later, gathered together, at his solo exhibition in 1972 at the Kunsthalle in Budapest. Most of the works created between 1967 and 1971 were carved wooden compositions, though the ensemble also included pieces cast in bronze, set in lead or aluminium, as well as stone carvings. The catalogue cover featured the 1971 walnut wood sculpture Kislány arany fülbevalóval (Little Girl with a Gold Earring), and according to the inventory, the collection included, among others, Csónakos (Man with Boat) (1968), Asszony késsel és madárral (Woman with Knife and Bird) (1968), Kislány (Little Girl) (1969), Kukás (Garbage Collector) (1969), Gyűrűfű (1971), along with small-scale versions of Boronás (Man with Harrow)(1968) and Ünnep (Festival) (1969), both of which later became public monuments. The chain of small sculptures shown at the Kunsthalle was later expanded with Utcaseprő (Street Sweeper) (1972), lumbering forward with clumsy determination, the curious relief-vision Chagall és én (Chagall and I) (1972), the "broadcloth-coat" Kossuth (1973), and the strangely tilted table-book-object sculpture Anyám könyvei (My Mother’s Books) (1975). This group of works is linked to the 1975 creation Szárnykészítő (Wing-Maker), about which art historian Lajos Lóska and art critic László Menyhárt published an extensive analysis in the April 1976 issue of the journal Művészet (Art). It is no coincidence that this work attracted such distinguished attention: it depicts a figure – evoking in a portrait-like manner the naïve painter János Balázs – sitting inside a battered birdcage with its door left open, cobbling together wings from chicken bones. In Hungarian art of the 1970s, the birdcage became a prominent symbol, a metaphor-laden object, at a time when artists increasingly engaged – albeit in indirect forms, through allusions and hints – with the tensions surrounding freedom and captivity, independence and subjugation. Pál Kő's Szárnykészítő fits precisely into this historical and art-historical process: its birdcage, this "object removed from its usual context" embodies in sculptural metaphor the irreconcilable paradox between confinement and the desire to soar. Like Szárnykészítő, the choice of subjects in Pál Kő's small sculptures from the 1960s and 1970s was also unconventional – no one before him had ventured to "dedicate" a sculpture to a garbage collector or a street sweeper. His use and creation of symbols – animated by unexpected networks of meaning – reveal profound depth, while his formal order, technical execution, and use of materials were likewise innovative. Alongside figures that may appear clumsy yet carry enormous gravitas (Gyűrűfű, 1971; Kossuth, 1973), objects too were endowed with equivalent sculptural value My Mother's Books (1975). These do not function as subordinate attributes but emerge as compositional elements of equal plastic significance alongside the figures (Asszony fekete órával – Woman with a Black Clock, 1970). At times he constructed from found objects and fragments (Egy régi templom emléklére – In Memory of an Old Church, 1971), at others he unfolded dreamlike visions from blocks of wood (Chagall and I, 1972; Nagy kék madár – The Great Blue Bird, 1975) or presented the viewer with surreal images (Hárfa és madár – Harp and Bird, 1974). All these works are consistently authenticated by a profound personal involvement and sincerity springing from deep experience, enveloped in an aura of intimacy.
Mohács
"In professional terms, the year 1975 was of great significance for me. That was when I created 29 grave markers for the Historical Memorial Site at Mohács. My sculptor friend Géza Samu assisted me. I consider the Mohács grave markers to be an important part of my work – both in terms of their content and their execution (of course, I have some reservations; I had ideas that were never realized, but they still live within me because they matter). It was here that I first experienced the manageability of larger dimensions, the eloquence of forms, formal rhymes, and so on" – wrote the artist in the introductory text of the catalogue for his 1985 exhibition at the Erzsébetváros Galéria (Erzsébetváros Gallery).
The recently rearranged and redesigned Historical Memorial Site at Mohács–Sátorhely finally broke away from the monumental memorial concept that had relied on grandiose approaches and large-scale architectural and sculptural elements. Instead, its creators and designers shaped the genuine environment of the site – the in situ preserved and excavated mass graves and battlefield relics – into a memorial park and grove, achieving a harmonious integration of natural formations with architectural-technical structures and service facilities. Numerous artists collaborated in the ensemble's realization, connected to the overarching plans of architect György Vadász. Through the mass-grave mounds, the deliberately planted shrubs and trees, and the memorial markers and sculptures, a dignified setting was created: one that recalls the tragic historical turning point, yet, through the sculptural language of the works, subtly rises above it. Alongside the grave markers appear figurative, painted wooden sculptures – stuck in the ground, column-mounted, tilted, and distorted figures representing the main actors of the battle: King Louis II, Sultan Suleiman – originally depicted with blackened human heads in a net-basket encircling his body – and Archbishop Pál Tomori of Kalocsa. To these is joined the stylized figure of Dorottya Kanizsai, sculpted by Géza Samu. These figures – whose painting was carried out in collaboration with painter Gizella Péterfy – are portrayed with distorted proportions and a grotesque vision, as painfully fallible beings: the almost childlike King Louis II, the thoughtful commander Pál Tomori, and the turbaned Sultan Suleiman adorned with metal pendants and his skull-basket. Their representation excludes all pathos, rejects every heroic affectation, audacity, and bravado. Each simply stands in his place, obediently awaiting his impending fate. Connected to the sculptural ensemble created by Pál Kő and Géza Samu are the grave markers, carved wooden posts, crosses, totem poles, and the belfry holding the "soul-bell", placed along the mass graves, crafted by József Király, István Szabó Jr., and Sándor Kiss.
Rome
Geographically far from Hungary, yet in spiritual terms very close, a sacred artistic ensemble was realized in Rome, in the chapel dedicated to Our Lady, Patroness of Hungary (Cappella Magna Domina Hungarorum), located in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica near the tomb of the Apostle Peter, which found its home there in 1980. Initiated and supported by Cardinal László Lékai, and accompanied by the attentive care of two popes – Paul VI and John Paul II – the chapel was conceived and furnished according to a carefully considered iconographic program. On the 25th anniversary of its consecration, in 2005, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Primate of Hungary, declared: "This chapel is an enduring work, one that has stepped beyond the narrow confines of time. … Since its creation, the chapel has carried a prophetic message." The chapel, accessible through two gates, is framed, opened, and enclosed by wrought-iron gates created by József Kovács. From the first gate, four steps lead into the sanctuary; from the rear, five steps descend into the nave. In the sanctuary, visitors are received by a sculptural relief ensemble by Imre Varga: the statue of Saint Stephen, depicted in his old age and standing on the steps, turns with the crown in his hand toward the monumental gilded relief on the sanctuary wall, adorned with motifs of the Tree of Life and the miraculous stag. From this rises the bronze statue of Mary, crowned and veiled, holding the Child Jesus. Within the sanctuary, the altar, the throne, and the candlesticks, as well as the inscription and coat of arms on the rear arch, are harmoniously integrated into Varga's composition. Along the sanctuary and both side walls of the nave runs, at eye level, a series of stone reliefs carved on slabs measuring 100 × 100 cm and 80 × 100 cm. These reliefs were created in the studios of Pál Kő, Sándor Kiss, András Kiss Nagy, László Marton, Gyula Kiss Kovács, and Róbert Csíkszentmihályi, and the series is concluded on the rear wall of the nave with an oval bronze relief by Amerigo Tot, divided into four panels, depicting the antecedents of the chapel's foundation and the act of foundation itself. (The series of stone reliefs was later supplemented and completed by further works: in 2001 with one by Ferenc Lebó, and in 2003 with another by Éva Arrée Oláh.) Among the Roman Hungarian sculptural ensemble, three of the reliefs are by Pál Kő: the compositions representing Saint Adalbert, bishop and martyr; Saint Gerard, bishop and martyr; and Özséb, founder of the Pauline Order, each depicting episodes from their lives.
All three reliefs bear the weight of Romanesque stone carvings, their compositional systems shaped by apparent contingencies: the order and regularity of perspective are disrupted by an autonomous arrangement of views and proportions, handled with freedom. In Pál Kő's three reliefs, three decisive moments of the Middle Ages and of Hungarian history are fixed, dissolve into tale, are transformed into legend, and at the same time are condensed into a symbolic message: in the relief of Saint Adalbert, devotion; in that of Saint Gerard, bloody drama; and in that of Özséb, the contents of quiet meditation – harsh and gentle alike – converge, along with emotions both driven by passion and imbued with restrained intimacy.
Kings, Rulers, Commanders, Heroes
After the historical turning point of 1945, the monumental heroes displayed in Hungary's public spaces – alongside György Dózsa – became communist ideologues, labor-movement fighters, and party leaders, rather than kings of the Árpád dynasty or commanders who fought against foreign oppressors. The defining figures of Hungarian history, the medieval rulers, could only "filter back" into public space after several decades of absence, beginning in the 1970s. In this return to public legitimacy, Pál Kő's oeuvre played a key role. The statues of kings, rulers, commanders, and historical heroes shaped by Pál Kő are significant not only because of their subject matter – the chosen and memorialized figures – but also because of the perspective, mode, and form of their artistic representation. The statue of King Charles Robert, inaugurated in 1984 beside the Church of St. Bartholomew in Gyöngyös on the 650th anniversary of the town's charter (and relocated in 2000 somewhat farther from the church), shows the fragile figure of the king standing on a tall column crowned with a carved capital bearing the town's historic coat of arms. He holds the sceptre and orb in his hands, with a sword at his side. The statue of King Béla III in Baja, erected in 1986 in front of the city's oldest secondary school, named after the renowned king, likewise testifies to a vision seeking for immediacy, excluding historical drama, and rejecting pathos-laden hero worship. To the same thematic circle of royal statuary belongs the stone relief Géza fejedelem (Grand Prince Géza) and István király (King Stephen) in the Veszprém Castle, set into the wall of St. George's Chapel, evoking the stylistic world of the Hungarian Chapel reliefs in Rome. One of Kő Pál's most unusual works is the memorial to György Szondi, erected in Drégelypalánk in 1989: a composition that recalls a public funerary monument. Among the monuments to historical heroes can also be counted the full-length bronze statues of Lajos Kossuth in Nagypalád (1993) and in Szolnok (1994). These are conceived as portrait-monuments that emphasize the everyday personality – the traits of a persuasive character, highlighting sobriety and composure rather than alienating features. It is not difficult to recognize their distant relative in Kő's 1973 small-scale sculpture of Kossuth in a "broadcloth coat ", with "feather-grass hat". One of the most emphatic of Kő Pál’s works commemorating Hungarian historical heroes is the statue of King Saint Stephen, realized in 2001 as a major act of the Millennium celebrations. It stands on the slope of Gellért Hill in Budapest, on the terrace in front of the Sziklatemplom (Cave Church). Conceived already thirty years earlier, among the plans of the 1970s, the statue could finally be created in enduring material and monumental scale, joining the flood of Millennium monuments depicting Hungary’s holy founding king. The composition depicts a horse, with its head turned to the side, standing beside its dismounted rider; in front of it stands the adolescent Saint Stephen, holding in his hand the model of a Romanesque single-nave church. The king’s horse, covered by an ornate cloth, is placed on a low pedestal evoking the clustered columns of the crypt in Feldebrő. The statue immediately became the focus of heated professional debate. For this reason, it is essential to stress: the depiction of the king dismounted, standing beside his horse, is not merely a formal device but an artistic invention concentrating weighty layers of meaning. Equally symbolic is the rendering of the holy king – achiever of great deeds – as a young, slender figure, recalling the form of the Bamberg Rider.
Writers, Poets, Scholars
Reviewing the list of Pál Kő’s public works, it becomes clear that alongside monuments to kings, rulers, and military leaders, his oeuvre also comprises an important body of portrait sculptures dedicated to the outstanding figures of Hungarian culture and scholarship – above all, Hungarian literature. Early in his career he paid tribute to the memory of writer Kálmán Mikszáth with a relief plaquette (Szécsény, 1972), and likewise commemorated Attila József with a relief (Salgótarján, 1972), before creating his first full-figure portrait of a writer: the statue of Zsigmond Móricz in Nyíregyháza (1977). His first work commemorating Sándor Kőrösi Csoma was a relief in Budapest (1984). Alongside other smaller works, this chain of sculptures was joined by the statue of poet István Sinka in Vésztő (1988), the statues of Ferenc Kölcsey in Budapest and Sződemeter (1991, 1993), the relief of Vilmos Aba-Novák in Jászszentandrás (1991), the relief of Bálint Balassi in Zólyom (1994), the memorial to Aladár Kuncz in Noirmoutier (2001), the statue of Dr. Imre Szegő in Heves (2006), and the portrait of Dr. Valér Maczky in Eger (2010). It is perhaps within this circle of portraits of writers, poets, and scholars – reliefs and full-figure statues alike – that one can most keenly observe the stylistic variety and restlessness of Kő’s sculptural practice. Summarizing the significance of Kő's literary portrait gallery, literary historian András Görömbei remarked:
"His art carries a special value in deepening and renewing Hungarian national self-knowledge. His public statues and reliefs commemorate a multitude of great Hungarian artists and historical figures with monuments that make us conscious of, and invite judgment upon, Hungarian fate and Hungarian history. [...] In one figure he can embody the hero living in the people’s consciousness, in another, vast knowledge of life, in a third, refined intellect, and in a fourth, the poetry welling up from the depths of a shepherd’s fate. [...] His sculptures are, in every detail, Hungarian works. On the basis of his folk-inspired creations and his works that reinterpret our history, he has rightly been called one of the most Hungarian of sculptors."
College, University
“I began my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1963, specializing in sculpture under the guidance of József Somogyi. I graduated in 1968. For the next ten years I lived solely from my work. In 1978 my former master invited me to become an assistant lecturer, to take the place of my departing sculptor friend, István Lisztes. [...] Over the years the number of my graduates steadily grew. [...] Earlier I was also able to serve the cause of artistic education as head of department and as vice rector. Among my activities, I feel my work as a teacher of sculpture to be the most complete.” – wrote Pál Kő in the introduction to the catalogue of the 2007 exhibition in Eger, organized together with his students. Among the students of József Somogyi, who launched generations of sculptors, we find sculptor Pál Kő, who so often referred to his former master’s individuality, creative principles, and works. Since the late 1960s his artistic career has been closely interwoven for more than three decades with art education and the teaching of sculpture. Kő began his teaching career in 1978 at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts – today the Hungarian University of Fine Arts – where he became a lecturer, then in 1990 an associate professor, and in 1991 a full professor. Surveying the vast literature that records Pál Kő's artistic activity, one finds hardly any data or sources that provide a deeper understanding of his pedagogical work. Even in the conversation book by Attila Miklós Németh, the master does not reflect on his own teaching principles, but rather meditates on the attitude of students: "For tell me, what does a truly good student do? [...] He denies his master! [...] Because he cannot catch up with him. Yet he values, loves, and respects him. He heeds his master’s advice, but in my view, he cannot overtake him. To deny him – yes, that he can do. And that is the more serious, the harsher situation, for both sides. Not when the master has already died. No. That would be too easy! But we must deny the master while he is still alive. Yet with such tact and such dignified recognition of the situation that his authority remains intact!”
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In this overview we could not take stock of all the works, nor could we deal with each piece individually; rather, we attempted to survey the most important groups of works and to draw attention to those aesthetic characteristics we considered the most distinctive.
Alongside the "great" monuments, we did not discuss in detail the outstanding early piece, one of the first placed in public space, Boronás (Man with Harrow) in Levelek, embossed in red copper plate (1970), or the stone-carved Ünnep (Festival) in Heves (1974). From later works we likewise didn't mention the superb, large-scale Budapest relief Zöld szemű lány (The Green-Eyed Girl), the unusual bronze Alapító (Founder) in Zánka (1982), realized as an almost abstract plastic form, as well as the Carrara marble composition Menyasszony a ládán (Bride on the Chest) in Parádfürdő (1994). Similarly, we could mention only in passing such works depicting everyday figures as the bronze Asszony madárral (Woman with Bird) memorial in Heves (1994) and the limestone-carved Hímző asszony (Embroidering Woman) in Veresegyház (1996), created as part of a World War II memorial.
The painted wooden Kakasos fiú (Boy with Rooster) (1984) – first in Vienna, later reconstructed in Budapest – may remind us of the importance of bird symbolism, the theme of flight and soaring, throughout Pál Kő's oeuvre. The bird motif appears in the early Asszony késsel és madárral (Woman with Knife and Bird) (1968), in Mese (Fairy Tale) (1970s), Hárfa és madár (Harp and Bird) (1974), Nagy kék madár (Great Blue Bird) (1975), Szárnykészítő (Wing-Maker) (1975), Magyar Messiás (Páva) (Hungarian Messiah – Peacock) (1977), in the small-scale plastic Népdalgyűjtő (Bartók) (Bartók, the Collector of Folksongs) (1981), and Csontváry (1982). It also figures in public works such as the bronze composition Nyár (Summer) in Budapest (1985), the World War II memorial in Heves (1994), and ultimately may be associated with the two Pegasi of the Taverna Hotel in Budapest (1985) or the small bronze Parasztangyal (Peasant Angel) (2006). Parallel to such an analysis of bird (and horse) motifs, one might also conduct an investigation of the motif of the book in Pál Kő's sculpture: this would encompass Anyám könyvei (My Mother’s Books) (1975), the pilgrim’s stick sculpture dedicated to poet István Sinka (1970s), Arany János Kapcsos könyve (The Clasped Book of János Arany) (2004), the Imakönyv (Prayer Book) evoking the poetry of József Utassy (2004), and the Történelemkönyv (History Book), the monument commemorating Prime Minister József Antall, situated on the promenade in Balatonfüred (2003). In the same way, an entire section could be devoted to the portraits: the painted terracotta sculptures, beginning with Édesapám (My Father) (1963) wearing a military cap, followed by the masterful painted terracotta portrait of Géza Samu (1975), and further enriched by works such as the terracotta Gyula Juhász (1965), the bronze-aluminium portrait of Róbert Swierkiewicz (1969), the bronze Tanú (Witness) – portrait of Miklós Melocco (1980), and the terracotta portrait of Marcell Jankovics (1983). In public space, one could include the stone-bronze-iron János Hunyadi in Jánoshalma (1979), the bronze bust of King Aba Sámuel in Ópusztaszer (2001), and the bronze portrait of Margit Szécsi in Budapest (2003). Similarly, a separate discussion could be devoted to the funerary monuments, as well as to unique, unclassifiable works within the oeuvre: the Kolduskapu (Beggar's Gate) sculptures in Buda Castle (1995), the Leszakadt ég (Fallen Sky) memorial in Szajol (1996), A magyar tudomány emlékműve (The Monument of Hungarian Science in Budapest) (2006), or the Születéskő (Birthstone) at the Horti roadside rest stop (2006). Finally, we must note that here we likewise had no space to analyse the medals and plaquettes – ranging from traditional, commissioned commemorative medallions to autonomous artist's medals – nor to describe the award sculptures (the Berzsenyi Prize, 1989; the József Ratkó Prize, 1993; the János Arany Prize, 1996, etc.). Among our debts we must also list an overview of the drawings: works that prepared or accompanied sculptural projects or simply gave form to an idea for a sculpture – many of which reveal autonomous artistic qualities as drawings in their own right.
Pál Kő was a sculptor whose works, inspired by classical traditions, embody traditional values and characteristics of plastic form. His sculptures have always been realized in enduring materials, as objects that radiate their own aura, exuding and bearing the distinctive atmosphere created by mass, form, craftsmanship, and the space they organize. A sculpture by Pál Kő is a plastic apparition that searches for the possibilities of an ethical mode of human existence and the scope of communal action, that turns toward the past while continually focusing questions and answers alike on the contemporary concerns of everyday life and the broader perspectives of history. It is a sculptural vision in which realism contends with dreamlike intoxication, and in which the longing for love and the radiation of love struggle against one another with unquenchable intensity.
[2014]