1830 -1917 · Paris, Budapest and Hungarian historical romanticism

Nocturnal prisons, defeated heroes and funeral silences make Viktor Madarasz the great playwright of Hungarian national memory.

Viktor Madarasz was born in Csetnek, today Štítnik, in 1830 and died in Budapest in 1917. Intended for law, he joined the Hungarian army at the age of eighteen and participated as a soldier then lieutenant in the war of independence of 1848 -1849. The defeat marks his entire vision of history. After a time of exile and the abandonment of his legal studies, he trained at the Vienna Academy then in the private school of Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. In 1856, he left for Paris and entered the studio of Léon Cogniet. There he discovered French romantic historical painting, notably Paul Delaroche, from whom he retained a taste for the suspended moment, the dark setting and the contained tragedy. The Mourning of Laszló Hunyadi, painted in 1859, became his masterpiece: the body covered with a white shroud, the mother and fiancée kneeling, the dark chapel transformed a 15th century episode into an image of contemporary national mourning. The painting received a large gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1861. Péter Zrínyi and Kristóf Fringepân in prison, Ilona Zrínyi before the investigating judge and Dobozi continued this meditation on resistance, condemnation and sacrifice. Returning to Hungary around 1870, Madarász encountered a less favorable reception and moved away almost entirely from commercial painting. He returned to Hungary around 1870, Madarász encountered a less favorable reception and Dobozi continued this meditation on resistance, condemnation and sacrifice. Returning to Hungary around 1870, Madarász encountered a less favorable reception and moved away almost entirely from commercial painting. He took up brushes again at the beginning of the 20th century after setbacks financial. Despite this broken journey, his great compositions remain at the heart of Hungarian romanticism: they make history a language of memory, freedom and collective pain. The "Viktor Madarâsz" selection notably compares The Mourning of Laszló Hunyadi and Péter Zrínyi and Kristóf Frangepân in prison. His reading favors details.

Madarasz chooses the moment before or after the action: in silence, history becomes mourning, resistance and national consciousness.