Margit Szilvitzky
Margit Szilvitzky (1931 – 2018, Budapest) graduated from the textile and fashion design department of the University of Applied Arts Budapest in 1954. Szilvitzky became by the end of the fifties an acclaimed designer. In parallel she began experimenting with various textile fabrics, and her sewn collage pictures, made from linen and hemp materials she had dyed herself, made her by latter half of the sixties one of the leading figures of the Hungarian textile art. Spanning five decades, her artistic approach articulated in various media such as drawing, painting and art books as well. The early period of Szilvitzky’s abstract artistic practice, which can be characterised by an organic motif-set and vivid colours, has shifted towards a rigorous geometric attitude. Centered around the plane and spatial potentials of the square her consequent geometric program unfolded itself by folding the canvas in the 1970s. From the mid-eighties in order to investigate the two dimensional surface of the canvas she turned to pictorial expression. In the course of the nineties her interest in the ornamental capacities of the painting - referring to her early textile period as well – became central. The geometrical modulations and the latter ornamental investigations of the “endless pattern” are driven from her ever since inquiry into variable structures.
Her activity organizing Hungarian textile biennials, the success of solo and group exhibitions, her frequent participation in international textile events earned her international acclaim. From the mid-seventies Szilvitzky was exhibiting extensively abroad. Her works can be found beside the UNESCO Collection and the collection of the Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden in the main Hungarian public collections, such as the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, the Hungarian National Gallery and the Hungarian Museum of Applied Arts.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2004 Fészek Gallery, Budapest
2002 Open Processes II. (1972-2002), Savaria Art Gallery, Szombathely, HU
2001 Diarium Nauticum (with Gloria G. Persiani), Hungarian Academy, Rome
1999 Paintings 1991-1998, Ernst Museum, Budapest
1992 Salle du Bonvin, UNESCO, Paris
1990 Parcelles de l’univers, Galerie Ehgner, Paris
Frammenti dell’Universo, Galleria l’Ariete, Rome
1988 Szilvitzky Margit. Selection from the works of the past three decades. Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest
1986 Nauhan tarina / Strip Story. Hungarian Institute, Helsinki
1984 Open processes. Textiles /Drawings. Sawensteijn Museum, Voorburg
1979 King Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU
1977 Amos Anderson Museum, Helsinki (with Gábor Attalai and Lujza Gecser)
1976 The prize-holders of the IV. Wall-, and Space-Textile Biennale. Zwinger, Kőszeg, HU (with Éva Németh and Zsuzsa Szenes)
1972 Salamon Tower, Visegrád, HU
1970 Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna
1970 Exhibition Hall of the Institute of Cultural Connections (later Dorottya Gallery), Budapest
1960 Adolf Fényes Hall, (with Anna Soltész Nagy)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006 Il libro eterno. National Széchényi Library, Budapest
4th International Exhibition for Artist Books. King St. Stephen, Székesfehérvár, HU
2nd Textile Art Triennial. Szombathely Art Gallery, Szombathely, HU
2002 Arte per salvare la Nature. Gallera ’il Tempo Ritrovato’, Rome
2000 Künstlerbücher aus Ungarn. Goethe Institut, Budapest
6th Wexford Artists’s Books Exhibition. Arts Centre, Wexford
Le livre objet contemporain hongroise. Musée Lanchelevichi, La Louviére, B
1999 Made in Hungary. Contemporary Artis Book. Dowd Fine Arts Gallery, New York
Slika / Platno. Selected works of Hungarian Artists. MGML, City Museum, Ljubljana
1997 Oil/Canvas. Műcsarnok, Kunsthalle, Budapest
1994 The Eighties. Ernst Museum
2nd International Exhibition of Artist Books. King St. Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU
1992 Dialogues in Paper. Hungarian and American Artists. Fészek Gallery, Budapest
Interplays ’92, Dom Umenia, Bratislava
1989 Symmetry ’89. Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
1988 International Pattern Triennale. Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest
1986 Moderne Ungarische Textilien. Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund
1985 The Nature. Pécsi Galéria, Pécs, HU
IV. Medunarodni Biennale Tapiserije. Mestna Galerija, Piran, SLO
1984 New Textile. Selection from the collection of the Savaria Museum. King Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU
1983 Landscape, Pécsi Galéria, Pécs
1982 Arteder ’82. International graphic exhibition. Bilbao
1981 Textilkunst ’81. Sclossmuseum, Linz - Künstlerhaus, Wien
Drawing Activity. Wielka Galeria, Poznan
Objects, Situations and Counterpoints with soft materials. Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest
1980 Drawings. Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Tendencies 1970-1980 I., Óbuda Gallery, Budapest
Hedendaagse Hongaarse Kunst. Centrum de Vart, Hilversum, NL
1979 Hungarian Contemporary Textile Art. Rut E. Dowd Fine Arts Gallery, New York
Textile – Without Textile. Club of Young Artists, Budapest
Textiles from Velem. Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, AT
1978 Moderne Ungarsk Textilkunst. Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, DK
3rd International Exhibition of Miniature Textiles, British Crafts Centre, London
Thoughts on light materials. Club of Young Artists, Budapest
1977 Moderne Ungarische Textilkunst. Stadt Museum, Linz, AT
1976 Textiles Appliques, Fabric-Collage. Musée Chateau d’Annecy, FR
1975 Hungarian Miniature Textiles. Savaria Museum, Szombathely, HU
1974 The First Worlds Crafts Exhibition. Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, CAN
1972 Clothing ’72. Ernst Museum, Budapest
1970-1982 Textile Biennals. Szombathely, HU
1968 Textile Wall Image ’68. Ernst Museum, Budapest
1966 V. Hungarian Poster Exhibition. Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest
1959-1960 IV. National Arts and Crafts Exhibition. Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest