Imre Molnár is part master craftsman, part artist. His priority is – as he puts it – to master the “ins and outs” of the leather trade; then, upon acquiring this experiential knowledge, he approached artistry from the perspective of craftsmanship, eventually reaching its peaks.
Mastering leatherwork meant, first and foremost, getting to know the material and, of course, learning the various technical procedures. As a young man, he seized every opportunity to experience leather and the myriad ways of processing it. Beyond theoretical training and library research, he sought out the masters of the time, in whatever field of leatherworking they were active in: from shoemaker to whip-maker, from bookbinder to master furrier. The material is very important to him. He knows and loves leather, and most importantly, he respects it: as he highlighted in the title of his academic inaugural address, leather was “once the casing of a living being created by God” (György Szemadám), and thus, for him, the material has a metaphorical meaning beyond material reality. Throughout history, in using animal skins, man has often donned the skins of other animals, and at times these have saved his life, creating an organic connection between man and the animal world, between man and nature. The world of beliefs and myths often refers to the special, cultic role of skin and its magical-mystical traits. It is more than a simple material; it embodies the ancient primordial unity of man and nature, concealing the life force of a once living being. Molnár's leatherworks unite the divine power of creation, the force of nature, and the work of the active, creative human being.
His art is fundamentally organic and close to nature – also apparent in how he uses only natural materials alongside the leather. In addition to a wide variety of leathers (he has processed cow, calf, goat, and sheepskin, and even ostrich, stingray, and reptile skins), he works with paper, papyrus, metal, wood, bone, fur, and occasionally stone and shell. Parchment is of great importance to him.
His interesting, unusual combinations of materials can be regarded as a true rarity, and in a sense, the survival of ancient knowledge and a specific renewal of tradition. These combinations may once have been ordinary, but today they seem exotic: such as the combination of bone and leather. His bone jewellery is enriched with cowhide and fine braids made from straps, primarily showcasing the beauty of the material. He works the surface of the bone with masterly humility, shaping it into curved forms. The choice of appropriate materials is merely the starting point of artistic creation; the true bravura lies in creating a harmonious ensemble through shaping and combining numerous variations of decoration. Stone as a material (be it the hardest granite – his favourite – or another) always serves as an inspiration for him. It can be integrated into wall-mounted pictures and other creations. Through fine grinding and polishing, he reveals the innermost values and true depths of the material, or evokes the Stone Age of our past. The solidity of the stone is juxtaposed with the fluttering lightness of feathers in his works; the ensemble of leather, feathers, and other materials evokes the fullness of life: certainty and the world of dreams, reality and fantasy together, as in his work entitled Álomfogó (Dreamcatcher).
The beauty of the leather dominates his creations, which he further enhances during processing. For Imre Molnár, the first step of creation is always touching, grasping, and selecting the material, followed by its fine, multifaceted, and varied manipulation. He never works against the material; he preserves its characteristics and even emphasises them. A defining element of his art is material-minded thinking. He starts with the leather itself; the decoration stems naturally and self-evidently from the characteristics of the material.
His wide knowledge includes a multitude of technical procedures and professional tricks, and he applies each one brilliantly. Leather embossing, blind tooling, gilding, and leather intarsia (inlay) are traditional techniques. All of these he revives, practices regularly, and grants them a new function and role: as can be seen, for example, in the delicate rhythm studies he has woven from leather strips. He is a born craftsman, a master who knows every phase and element of the creative process and makes everything by hand. He has his own workshop where he can create various leather ornaments.Imre Molnár's outstanding virtues are manifested in every workflow, till the object takes its final shape: high standards, professionalism, precision, and accuracy. His works appeal not only to the eye but also to the touch, providing tactile pleasure. Driven by a need for completeness – the fullness of life and creation –, the use of materials and colour, technique, and message form an organic unity in his works. His approach is fundamentally object-centric: he starts from the material itself and its function. He is always consistent in execution and accepts no compromise.
For someone to transform from craftsman to artist, intellectual substance, an individual message, and the harmony of content, function, and form are all essential. This harmony, the unity of material and spirit, appears imperceptibly, self-evidently, and naturally in Imre Molnár's creations: his works suggest calm and infinite peace, whatever the genre. This is the key to the timelessness of his work. He is guided by an ancient instinct and aided by manual dexterity inherited from his ancestors (as his forebears were artisans and craftsmen on both sides); knowing and respecting the material, he engages in creation with brilliant technical skill. His affinity for object creation, his fine sense and taste never lead him astray. A series of qualitative works have emerged from his hands. He walks his own path, and his works are so unique that his handiwork is immediately recognisable. He never bows to fashion trends, never gets caught in a wave of fashionable styles, but proceeds deliberately and thoughtfully on his own path, which is at once contemporary and archaic, transgressing tradition yet rooted entirely in it. He draws from the experience of millennia, the knowledge of Hungarian leather masters who once enjoyed great renown across Europe, as well as Hungarian folk art and the world of archaic cultures, all of which are inexhaustible sources for his art. Archaism and modernity are present simultaneously in Imre Molnár's oeuvre. The starting point is always the art of our ancestors, the old ways of leathercraft, but the artist usually enriches this with his own specific conception and style. His drive for experimentation is inexhaustible: he is characterised by a multitude of extraordinary, bold ideas.
He creates many types of objects: not only utilitarian items, but also autonomous sculptures, fine-art pieces to be hung on the wall, and ornamental objects. In the field of utilitarian objects, his repertoire is wide, ranging from traditional bookbindings to certificates, from medal cases to clothing accessories (handbags, jewellery, shoes, etc.). He makes various cases, file holders, folders, and boxes for diplomas and gifts. His creations encompass almost every area of noble, high-standard folk art and applied art.
One important area of leatherwork, recognized to this day, is bookbinding. However, there are very few masters left today who create unique, hand-bound works that fit the spirit of the book, starting from traditions but taking into account today's needs, mindset, and tastes. Imre Molnár excels in this too. He does not let outstanding past achievements in the history of Hungarian craftsmanship go to waste; he takes up the tradition, and creates perfect bindings. He carefully designs every element of the book and crafts it in the workshop, from the cover board to the endpapers, from the hand-sewn headbands to the gilding, to the protective box containing the book, and even the ribbon used to lift the volume out. His work from 1998 is the binding of the score of Mozart's The Magic Flute. The volume embodies the finest traditions of bookbinding: a cowhide binding with a blind-embossed portrait of Mozart and blind-tooled lettering. The endpapers are of high quality, and the volume is housed in a leather-edged, marbled paper-covered slipcase.
He essentially dresses the book, creating a casing that fits its internal content, organically linking content and form so that internal value and external appearance harmonise. The motifs on the cover board hint at the internal content, while often revealing surprising ideas and formal creativity. The list of his unparalleled, dignified, and nobly proportioned bindings is long, we will highlight only a few.
In 2005, he wittily wrapped András Csőgör's poetry volume Gondolatok fekete kabátban (Thoughts in a Black Coat) in a “coat”, which, of course, he furnished with painted edges and hand-sewn headbands, enhancing its elegance with very fine gilding. (On this occasion, he had a collaborator: his son.) The motifs appearing on his bookbindings are summary and restrained, yet purposeful and to the point, such as the infinitely undulating currents on the goatskin binding of the anthology compiled for Sándor Csoóri's sixtieth birthday, collecting poems by contemporaries (A lélek senkiföldjén (On the No Man's Land of the Soul)), which evoke the sand patterns of wind-swept deserts. This drifting, dynamic line structure also appears on the cover of Alexander Brody's work Gondok és gondolatok (Concerns and Thoughts). The single central motif of the calf parchment binding of Pilinszky Rómában (Pilinszky in Rome) is a nobly proportioned, marble-patterned, embossed antique column fragment evoking the past.
The incisive effect of colours and the sharp contrast between red and black dominate the binding of Rilke's poetry volume, made with leather intarsia. This technical solution requires particularly precise work. The red-painted edge becomes an organic part of the creation's special colour effect. He has also made folders and registers using brightly dyed leathers and intarsia techniques. The specially coloured leathers are beautiful, and the composition of differently coloured leathers together is particularly masterly. The joint application of leathers with different characters and structures also plays an important role in his works. His creations are characterised by a combined effect of colour and structure, material and form.
He can also illustrate the elemental power of natural forces on his bookbindings, always, of course, adjusting to the content of the given volume. Thus, the illusion of snowfall appears on the goatskin cover of Gyula Kodolányi's poetry book Január (January), and the radiant power and energy of the sun on the binding of A Nap könyve (The Book of the Sun) by Marcell Jankovics, which he created with luminous gilding. Particularly interesting are the bindings where he uses more diverse materials. He enriched the goatskin binding of the exhibition catalogue of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (Gold der Pharaonen – Gold of the Pharaohs) not only with Egyptian papyrus, but also with an etched, gilded metal plate – both materials alluding to the content. On the cover of Mihály Hoppál's work Folklór és közösség (Folklore and Community), the raw canvas base appears together with an oak veneer label; the slipcase is also made with oak veneer covering. It is a novelty, indicating contemporary inspiration, that he used laser engraving for the inscription and label. A colourful painted figure on vegetable-tanned goatskin decorates the cover of György Szemadám's volume Vándorok könyve (Book of Wanderers): the depiction stepping out of the frame refers to the title of the work. Figurative representation is rare on his bindings; usually, a single motif or typography dominates. A unique letter composition appears on the binding of the book Szent Márton, Savaria szülötte (Saint Martin, Native of Savaria), made in 2014.
A unique area in his art is when he creates bags, belts, and other accessories for the costumes of colleagues and textile designers – and in some cases, jewellery with other colleagues. All this activity came about after he became a member of the Modern Etnika (Modern Ethnic) costume design artist group in 1995. Tradition and folk art represent an inspiring source and starting point for the members of the group, but all this is formulated along the lines of modernity and the needs of the present age, metaphorically reinterpreting the art of predecessors and restructuring old ornamentation. Archaic decorations are sometimes present only in contour lines, yet their role is very important. Imre Molnár's deep, devout professional humility is also apparent within the group's design process; humility not only towards the material, but also in thinking and working together with colleagues. This type of design requires special teamwork, where adaptation, artistic tolerance for one another, and the expression of individuality must all be present. It is actually a vital element for Imre Molnár, who respects the material, the techniques, and the artistic ideas of colleagues, experiencing them not as constraints, but, on the contrary, as a force of inspiration. One example is the necklace created for Erzsébet Katona Szabó's Hattyúruha (Swan Dress), which he designed and made together with goldsmith József Kótai, using silver, bone, and ebony. Imre Molnár's clothing accessories also showcase a specific combination of materials and technical procedures; for example, the combined use of leather and textiles (embroidered canvas, etc.) in women's handbags, or leather and horn in other cases, and the bold application of various textures. His red handbag made for Klára Balázs's knitted outfit not only exemplifies the modern survival of archaic elements but is also an example of the specific, harmonious assembly of different surfaces and materials: a textile insert fits into the leather base material. He has also made several accessories for the clothes of Margit Kathy Madarászné.
Molnár's bags and women's accessories are infinitely elegant. His pieces do not show the powerful rusticity and rurality of ancient, traditional art, yet they are conceived deeply within the material itself; they originate, sprout from it. It is surely a sign of a deep respect for the material that he forms the bags by folding them in a unique way, hardly cutting into the leather. The shapes of the bags are manifold; besides rectangular forms with varied aspect ratios, the pouch shape of medieval tradition also appears. He works frequently and enthusiastically with cowhide, but also with pigskin, sheepskin, and goatskin. Decoration is restrained, sometimes as simple as possible, i.e., mere hand stitching running around the form. Besides decoration with stitching on the edges, many technical procedures make an appearance, such as embossing, leather appliqué decoration, etc. In several cases, he decorates the surface with embossed or deepened wavy lines. The colour scheme of his handbags ranges from light shades through browns and reds to black. He is very fond of pieces that can be suspended with a whip-braided leather strap. The lining of the bags, whether leather or silk, always matches the colour of the object.
His bags are not standalone, isolated creations, but are partly indispensable accessories and props for the costumes of artist colleagues, and partly components of a set, as he usually makes other accessories for the bags: pouches, belts, jewellery (necklaces). He always thinks in unified collections, which is why he often designs shoes and sandals to go with the bags. These footwear items are durable, made with precision, keeping in mind the peculiarities of human anatomy and the characteristics of the material.
The making of charters and diplomas dates back to the Middle Ages. Molnár's decorative certificates suggest respect for predecessors; their clean, harmonious shaping radiates a “peacetime” calm. In 1977, he made his first certificate written on calf parchment (Dr. Nemecz Ernő a Veszprémi Vegyipari Egyetem rektora és professzori kara, tanulóifjúsága köszönti a 100 esztendős darmstadti egyetemet (Dr. Ernő Nemecz, Rector of the Veszprém University of Chemical Industry, and his faculty and student body greet the 100-year-old University of Darmstadt)). In the early 1980s, a circle of friends with a Hungarian national sentiment (including Pál Fodor, György Csete, Mihály Hoppál, Marcell Jankovics, Ferenc Szakály, György Szemadám) raised the idea of honouring deserving people who do much for Hungarian culture on the 15th of March each year – a Hungarian national holiday neglected under socialism. The bronze medal, accompanied by a certificate and a case, is the work of sculptor László Péterfy. On the basis of this honourable request, Imre Molnár was able to create Latin-language certificates hand-written on parchment year after year, including matching cases and medals.
Molnár has created numerous certificates since then; he continuously provides them for the outstanding personalities of our time as well as for noted creators from our recent past. The posthumous honorary citizenship certificate dedicated to Zoltán Kodály by the Municipality of the 2nd District of Budapest was made with archaic lettering on parchment with initials, accompanied by a walnut seal holder and a coat-of-arms certificate holder covered in embossed cowhide. This creation is also a good example of how his certificates become modern in spirit even as they preserve the traditions and fundamental forms of the genre. The handwriting, the initials, and the use of colour itself – serious black and striking red, occasionally gilding – enhance the solemnity and elegance of these objects.
The cases made for the certificates are elegant and contemporary. He excellently exploits and varies the possibilities underlying traditional form (made for rolled-up scrolls), which expresses the function to the utmost degree. In fact, these cases, by virtue of their artistic quality, stand their ground on their own. We can say the same of his medal boxes and other containers, which are diverse and varied in type, shape, and material: made using leather, velvet, and paper. His inventiveness of form is boundless; he creates both regular and amorphous pieces. He tries to adjust the box or case to the basic shape of the object, but he is not rigid in his approach – thanks to his freely soaring imagination, he can create a refined world of form. The colour scheme and colour effect of the cases and boxes are also remarkable, emphasising the form and highlighting individual elements. Meeting the requirements of the modern age, he also makes cases for video cassettes and CDs. Among a mass of factory-made products, these stand out with refreshing splashes of colour, individuality, the exterior suggestive of and conveying the inner message – as in the case of Adrienne Jancsó's publication, Szavak (Words).
A special quest apparent in Imre Molnár's art is reaching back to archaic cultures, reviving symbols of past ages, as if evoking lost, ancient knowledge. He deciphers messages of former myths, or at least attempts to carry on the legacy of our ancestors. Such works by Molnár are surrounded by mystery – the many riddles and forgotten knowledge of traditional ancient beliefs are made manifest in symbols and, at the same time, in the skins of animals.
He has a particular affinity for the world of shamans; he approaches and depicts this unknown world in several of his creations. His compositions, created by combining leather, bone, fur, and wood, show a path to distant archaic civilisations. Most of all, however, the leather represents shamans, since the material stretched onto the drums that induce trance, as well as its resonance, carries many metaphorical references and simultaneously a connection point with our ancestors that goes beyond time and space. Several of his works attempt to convey the mystery of this transcendent, magical world through natural material use and specific motifs. Such is the bibliophile binding of Mihály Hoppál's book Sámánok Eurázsiában (Shamans in Eurasia), made by combining cowhide and parchment, as well as the Sámán szappantartó (Shaman Soap-dish) medal case. The latter was made on a wooden core with calf parchment covering, its interior lined with goat hair; yet not only the careful choice of materials but also the technical procedures (braiding, folding) are characteristic.
There are numerous unique experiments and specialities in Molnár's oeuvre. One of the main areas of his experimentation is found in the world of leather-based wall pictures. Naturally, other material types appear here alongside leather. These are framed artworks that can be hung on the wall, although sometimes they break through the frame, just as this genre itself pushes the boundaries of craft, trade, and art, since strictly speaking, it does not fall into any single genre. These creations are also characterised by special, varied formal solutions, as well as the specific structure, rhythm, and dynamics of the surface. He demonstrates the versatility and diversity of the material through variations of structure and texture. The surface itself is enriched by his pictures, woven and braided from cowhide straps. By specific layering of materials, by arranging them against or next to each other, he steps out of the plane towards the third dimension.
Besides unravelling the layers of ancient Hungarian culture, Molnár also deals with the culture of exotic regions; always through leatherwork. Thus, for example, he evokes the world of Africa in the Afrika-képek (Africa Pictures) series with African skins and characteristic materials, techniques, and motifs. The cowrie shell, as a natural material, is notable among the pieces from the Africa series not only for its beauty and form, but also for its history: it was used as an amulet in several civilisations, said to keep evil forces at bay. In all his works, but primarily in the archaic and exotic pieces, the use of colours is important: the clay yellows and russets, reds and browns, and the numerous shades of white and black evoke the natural colour world of ancient cave paintings.
Molnár confronts the modern person with the objects, thinking, and perception of their predecessors, or simply evokes the cultural legacy of old eras, sometimes embedding it in a radically novel environment. Such is the case when an electric circuit or computer panel is introduced into the composition, contrasted with the writing art and culture of past ages – specifically with old Hungarian linguistic sources. On irregularly shaped goatskin parchment, he evokes our linguistic memories (the Founding Charter of the Tihany Abbey, the Halotti Beszéd (Funeral Oration), and the Ó-magyar Mária-siralom (Old Hungarian Lament of Mary)) with faithful handwriting, while the fourth item of the series takes a surprising turn by combining the parchment with a computer panel.
His compositions evoking violins and sheet music – alongside the varied use of materials – testify to his broad horizon and the diversity of his education. String instruments particularly capture his imagination; he integrates and plants the image of the scrolled necks of instruments into the composition: as if they were emerging from a mysterious, unknown world. He transformed the score of Mozart's The Magic Flute into a unique creation with tuning pegs. He draws his inventions from the widest cultural history, art history, ethnographic, and literary environments. His works connect into the stream of Hungarian and universal cultural history, including music, language, literature, and so many other cultural sources that acted as forces of inspiration. Besides the play and variations of forms, materials, and structures, the colour scheme itself supports the message and the content.
Imre Molnár's technical mastery and taste serve as an example not only for his son and daughter working with him in the Csepel workshop, but also for all those who profess to be his students. Leatherworker László Vágó and leather and paper restorer Gyöngyvér Péterffy studied with him for longer or shorter periods. Two of his students are Young Masters of Folk Art: leatherworker and saddler Benedek Sáfár, and leatherworker Krisztina Dobos, who highlights the essence of her master's work: “I learned the leather trade from leatherworking artist Imre Molnár. From my master, I learnt to approach object creation in a manner that is organic, constantly experimental, focusing on function to the utmost, yet uncompromising in execution, which I could hardly have acquired elsewhere.” Imre Molnár is also a role model for those who attend and work year after year at the Országos Bőrműves Tábor (National Leatherwork Camp), where theoretical lectures and practical training further their development. Imre Molnár is responsible for the lion's share in the organisation of the camp and in the practical training. Here, each time, they put the leathercraft of a different culture or civilisation under the microscope. The jubilee camp and exhibition of 2014 was particularly significant; it started with a professional conference featuring renowned speakers.
Imre Molnár strives to emphasise the importance and role of leathercraft in every respect, both in practice and theory, and, keeping the interests of his narrower professional field in mind, to direct interest towards and draw attention to problems, including the difficulties of professional training. This kind of sensitivity and awareness led him to organise a conference on 28 September 2016 at the building of the MMA (Hungarian Academy of Arts) in the Vigadó, where renowned masters and he himself gave lectures on several exciting areas, the past and present of leathercraft, and the state of professional training.
Imre Molnár's associative thinking, the roots of his conception, his spirituality and relationship with the world, his material-minded thinking, and at the same time his focus on leather are deeply expressed in his Vallomás (Confession), which is a concise formulation of his artistic creed:
“Skin / animal skin, bow, arrow, / sacrifice. / Pebble, bone, / dismemberment. / Drum, leather object, sand, / aymag, kayak, moccasin, / ritual. / Sacred objects, leather, icon, incised leather, saddle, old leather, / gilded leather, leather strap, / dog leash, strap for life, / whip, secret, treasure, cassette, / reliquary, / parchment, others' skin, / own skin, leather chest, / chest for a lifetime.”