Abstract
Socialist realist painting, especially its Hungarian variant, has been characteristically overlooked in Western art historical research and remains a taboo in its local milieu. This dissertation challenges this dismissive status quo by presenting a case study of István Imre and Kornél Szentgyörgyi’s 1952 painting, Apple Harvest.Inspired by T. J. Clark’s social history of art, this study employs context-aware visual analysis supported by archival research to examine Apple Harvest in-depth. Looking closely, the painting is revealed not merely as a propagandistic historical artefact facilitating and visualising the transgressions of its time of production but as a complex work of art created by two accomplished Hungarian artists, capable of exerting influence over its intricate socio-political contexts. The analysis positions Imre and Szentgyörgyi as simultaneously complicit in and subtly subversive to the production of Hungarian socialism, with Apple Harvest serving as an intentionally orchestrated piece that balances the dissemination and critique of state ideologies and policies. The painting captures the tensions and entanglements inherent in cultural production as well as agricultural collectivisation during the Rákosi era.
While focused on Apple Harvest, this dissertation also introduces other works from the Third Hungarian Art Exhibition, providing essential context for its centrepiece and highlighting the broader scope of Hungarian socialist realist works that remain underexplored. By taking Apple Harvest seriously from an art historical perspective, this dissertation demonstrates that Hungarian socialist realism is not only deserving of scholarly attention but ripe for further research.
| Date of Award | 13 May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | William Hamilton (Supervisor) & Mike J O'Mahony (Supervisor) |
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