Have you ever been to Zebegény, in the Danube Bend (Dunakanyar)
This is where painter István Szőnyi (1894-1960) lived and was creating. This year will be 51. year when the István Szőnyi Open School of Fine Arts will be held, in the huge garden of Szőnyi, where during these decades generations of Hungarian and international artists grew up.
FINE ARTS - WHAT DO WE DO?
Every summer the István Szőnyi Open School of Fine Arts opens it gates with different courses and workshops. For decades, we had painter, graphic designer and sculptor classes, but this year we are broadening the range of classes offered. Among others, we will hold contemporary landscape painting, analogue photography, and sculptor-designer class as well. As we think it is important to open towards other principles of art, besides fine arts, we will start theatre and music classes too.
This will be the third year that we will open the first open-air cinema of the Danube Bend, the Szőnyi Kino Garden. Also, third time hosting the Afterwave Film Weekend of Mediawave (Mediawave Utóhullám Filmhétvége). Our guests will include the StopTrik International Film Festival from Slovenia, and for the second time the ZubrOFFka International Short Film Festival from Poland.
WHO ARE WE?
We are the Friends of István Szőnyi civil association, with members dedicated to the education and patronage of art.
The purpose of the Association (Articles of Association)
“The Friends of Istvan Szőnyi is a civil organization, operating as an association. Its goal is, by way of promoting the art of István Szőnyi (internationally and domestically), to increase the number of people who appreciate and understand art, especially fine art. Thereby realizing the fundamental aim of the association, spreading the universal culture of Art.
The association welcomes members who are: patrons of fine arts, or art in general; managers of the legacy of István Szőnyi; and all who are willing to facilitate the achievement of the goals set out in the Articles of Association as members.”
SCOPE OF ACTIVITY
Operation of open schools (István Szőnyi Open School of Fine Arts, Youth Art Colony, art camps). Organization of school trips, cultural events, and open-air schools for school groups. Supporting the cultural activity of the Istvány Szőnyi Memorial Museum.
MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
- Any Hungarian or foreign citizen above the age of 16, including legal persons (institutions, organisations) can gain membership, given that they comply with the obligations outlined in the Articles of Association and they are admitted by the Board of Directors, based on their application.
- Members have rights and obligations set out in the Articles of Association and the applicable laws - given their legal status as members.
- Legal persons may become members, given they support the Association beyond 50.000 HUF per annum.
Members of the Association are the Founding Members, General Members, as well as Patrons.
One may become a Patron, based on the decision of the Board of Directors, by way of supporting the Association financially and/or with materials. Patrons have a right to attend the General Assembly, without rights to vote or to be elected.
Patrons do not pay membership fees, but are obliged to provide financial or material support, and keep the rules of the Articles of Association.
ADMISSION OF MEMBERS
The Board of Directors decides within six months of application, which must include Recommendation from two existing Members.
HISTORY
50 years of the István Szőnyi Fine Art Summer School
If we believe in the power of genius loci, then it is absolutely true about the painter’s onetime garden at Zebegény. The Szőnyi couple’s home, previously the Bartóky family’s cottage, has been a museum since 1967. It was in the summer of 1968 that the first director of the museum, the painter Kornél Dániel, first invited people interested in the arts and wishing to create and learn around the famous bench of the Szőnyi’s park. The mutually reinforced duality of tradition and invention was present: the inspirational influence of Szőnyi’s oeuvre, which could be studied in the museum, and the use of methods at the summer school that went beyond the usual rigid rules enabled the initiation of a unique movement. The attraction of the István Szőnyi Fine Art Summer School is the possibility of experiencing and valuing a sense of freedom that is very much in short supply today, just as it has been in the everyday reality of the last 50 years.
In addition to teaching the foundations of various genres and techniques, the universal language of art has also been used to open channels of information between teachers and students, as well as students and students, which simply are not available under ‘normal’ circumstances. Through this novel quality of engagement, the shared language and the shared values, participants can discover their own hidden qualities and unused abilities, undergoing personal growth and enrichment, even if they do not become professional artists but choose a completely different way of life.
The personalities of all the artists teaching at the school are the guarantee that the school’s students receive the knowledge and the information that is possible to attain during the time available, at the highest standard of excellence.
During the last 50 years, the school has been able to adapt to the challenges of our changing world, while retaining its essential characteristics – the greatest wonder is that it has been able to keep working without interruption up to now. Its constant capacity for renewal is assured through its operation by an independent non-profit organisation, the Szőnyi István Circle of Friends Association, since 1969. We would like to present the last 50 years and its predecessors in the form of a special illustrated book.
