Hungary: Before and After [antikvár]

WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO THE VISITORS TO THE EXHIBITION: "HUNGARY: BEFORE AND AFTER." THIS EXHIBIT IS NOT ONLY ABOUT ART, IT IS ALSÓ ABOUT POLITICS. IT IS A YMD ILLUSTRATION OF THE INTERREL\TIONSHIP BETWEEN ARTISTIC CREATIVITY AND POLITICAL POWER. THE SCENE IS HUNGARY. THE TIME FR\ME STRETOHES FROM STALINIST "SOCIALIST REALISM" UP TO PRESENT DAY UNRESTRICTED ARTISTIC FREEDOM. IT SHOWS, I BELIEVE, HOW TOTALITARIAN SYSTEMS PERVERT ARTISTIC CREATIVITY. ART IS CONSIDERED MERELY AS OFFICIAL PROPAGANDA. TO FULLY COMPREHEND THE DEPREDATION OF ART UNDER THE TOTALITARIAN REGIME IN HUNGARY, IT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO COMPARE THIS PERIOD TO THE PREVIOUS ERA WHICH WAS AT A PAR WITH WESTERN CULTURE. STALINISM NOT ONLY PERVERTED ARTISTIC PRODUCTION BUT THE VERY SOULS OF THE ARTISTS AS WELL. AS WE CAN SEE, MANY OF THEM, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM IT MUST BE STRESSED, SUBJECTED THEMSELVES TO PREVAUJNG AND HARSHLY ENFORCED DOGMAS. OUT OF OPPORTUNISM, BY AN INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL, SOMETTMES BY CONVICTION. THE RESULTING HUMJLIAHON HAS LEFT MANY SCARS IN THE VERY SOULS OF THE ARTIST AND OF SOCIETY AT L\RGE. AS THE DICTATORSHIP GAVE WAY TO A "GOULASH COMMUNISM" FIRST AND SOMÉ KIND OF A "BENIGN NEGLECT" TOWARDS CREATIVE ART, WE WITNESS A REBIRTH OF THE MANIFESTATION OF ARTISTIC CREATIVITY AND FUSION WITH CONTEMPORARY ARTISTIC TRENDS. FIN.ALLY WE ARRIVE AT THE PRESENT TIME WHERE ARTISTIC FREEDOM IS FULL AND UNLIMITED WHILE FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO SUSTAIN IT ARE DEFINTTELY LIMITED. THIS IS A SOCIETY IN TRANSITION IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE WORD. THE STATE AS THE MAIN, IF NOT THE ONLY BENEFACTOR OF THE ARTS HAS CEASED TO EXIST, BUT HAS NOT BEEN REPLACED YET BY OTHER PROVIDERS OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES, BE rr THE MARKÉT, OR GRANTS FROM FOUNDATIONS, ETC. I HOPE THAT THROUGH THIS UN1QUE EXHIBIT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FOLLOW THE STRUGGLES OF AN ARTISTIC SOCIETY UNDER DURESS BUT ALSÓ THE CREATIVE TALENT OF THE HUNGÁRIÁN PEOPLE. LET ME EXTEND MY APPRECIATION TO THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND VISITORS1 CENTER, AS WELL AS PHILIP MORRIS COMPANIES, INC., THE HUNGÁRIÁN NATIONAL GALLERY, THE MAYOR OF BUDAPEST AND THE COMMERCIAL BANK LTD., BUDAPEST FOR THEIR ROLE IN MAK1NG THE PRESENT EXHIBIT POSSIBLE.