10 Treurenberg, 1000 Brussels
The exhibition titled Art Deco Budapest presents an overview of the distinct visual culture of the interwar period. The main focus of the exhibition is Hungarian Art Deco, with a highlight on poster art and modern urban lifestyle.
The exhibition seeks to portray the exciting period of the 1920s and 1930s, which brought about important changes. It takes visitors on a journey through the era and Art Deco using the genre of the poster. One hundred years ago, after the trauma of World War I and the devastation of the Spanish flu, in the second half of the 1920s, the economic consolidation was coupled with people’s unfettered desire to enjoy life, with glamour and the sometimes decadent lust for life being at the heart of Art Deco tastes.
Art Deco drew on a wide range of inspirations: the achievements of avant-garde fine arts, decorative stylisation and elements of historical styles as well as a rediscovery of folk art, exotic cultures, and even ancient Egyptian art. Above all, Art Deco posters sought to catch people’s attention through dazzling spectacle, the glamour of elegance, the seduction of eroticism, the allure of the exotic, the thrill of speed, and the eerie romanticism of the underworld. Art Deco equally exerted an influence on fine arts and applied arts, film, theatre, music and architecture.
The exhibition focuses on the visual culture of Hungarian Art Deco, with an emphasis on poster art and modern urban lifestyle. It presents a comprehensive picture of the distinct visual culture of the interwar years through a display of special posters, furniture, garments, films and urban spaces, and draws attention to all the elements that played a role in shaping public taste at the time. The exhibited posters document the phenomena of the period: the new feminine ideal, modern fashion, the cult of sport and health as well as inventions – the automobile, radio, talkies – and new forms of entertainment, such as jazz concerts, nightclubs, and revues.
This exhibition is a recreation of the original grandiose exhibition of the Hungarian National Gallery at a smaller scale.
The originals of the posters exhibited in our Institute are preserved in the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery, the National Széchényi Library and the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest. In addition to the posters, by scanning the QR codes, you can discover studies by Anikó Katona and Gábor Gyáni with insight about the social context of Art Deco in Hungary.
Exhibiting partner institutions: Hungarian National Gallery, National Széchényi Library, Museum of Applied Arts