Document Bundle of the Artists' Circle of Rottenbiller Street

In addition to being custodians of Lajos Vajda’s estate, we also have Vera Jakovits and Gyula Kozák to thank for preserving the documents of the artists’ circle of Rottenbiller Street, which are of great importance from an art historical and sociological perspective. The bundle of documents are mainly related to Vera Jakovits’ mother, Júlia Vajda (1913–1982), whose estate is also invaluable because it contains indirect sources about Lajos Vajda’s life and oeuvre, including some of his biographies, various versions of which survive in fragments. Part of the written sources also include Júlia Vajda’s journal entries, dreams, ideas about art, as well as documents reflecting her view of the world as it evolved through her conversations with Lajos Szabó, Stefania Mándy and Béla Tábor. The autographic papers also include Júlia Vajda’s correspondence with her second husband, József Jakovits. After emigrating in 1965, his letters from New York give us an insight into the workings and rehearsals of the Squat Theater, which had been founded by members of the Dohány Street Apartment Theater. The third key artist in the Rottenbiller circle is Endre Bálint; the documents that can be regarded part of his estate—i.e. his correspondence with family members and fellow artists—include letters written during his stay in Paris between 1957 and 1962 by Lajos Kassák and Victor Vasarely, as well as letters he sent to Júlia Vajda from Paris. In addition to family photographs and artwork reproductions, Gyula Kozák’s photographs of Endre Bálint’s paintings from Paris, are particularly significant from an art historical viewpoint. The personal documents are supplemented by catalogues, invitations, studies and press materials relating to the artists associated with the European School and Rottenbiller Street.

/Judit Radák/