Illustrations

In the 1960s, Hungarian book illustration and book graphics flourished like never before. It is perhaps enough to refer to the illustrations of János Kass for Duke Bluebeard’s Castle or the pages by Endre Szász created for Villon or Ádám Würtz for Midsummer Night’s Dream. These created a school at the time, not only with their new voices, but also with the novelty of their presentation and the technique they used. They were followed by the generation to which Győző Sárkány belongs. This group produced extremely colourful and varied works, albeit without the stylistic and intellectual relations that characterised those before them.

Győző Sárkány is also going his own individual way. He does not follow the path of the generation immediately before him, he does not adopt their fairy-like character or playfulness in drawing. He acts as a continuator of the classical drawing tradition.

He often quotes from the great classical predecessors to create a sovereign new work with a new message, using their motifs. At other times, however, he uses completely new elements and means to express eternal truths in a contemporary way. It is probably these unique qualities that make his illustrations of literary texts so convincing. He uses his images to enlighten the texts he illustrates with a particular stylistic sensitivity and interpretative ability. As a true illustrator, he does not depict the plot, but retells and further resonates the story. For the sake of the image we see here, let us recall the artist’s Dürer cycle, in which he recalls the figures and compositions of his great idol, reinterpreting them to reveal his own ars poetica.

Imre Miklósi visual artist, art writer