Hungarian Fate 2005

Curator: This striking acrylic painting is Endre Bartos's "Hungarian Fate" from 2005. What leaps out at you? Editor: Raw power. The colors almost vibrate, that angry horse is something out of a fever dream. It's intense! I feel like it’s trying to buck me off history itself. Curator: Indeed! Bartos uses vibrant color and forceful brushstrokes here. I find myself wondering about his choice of medium. Acrylic allows for quick layering and that immediacy contributes to the raw emotion, wouldn't you agree? Editor: It does. Thinking about material accessibility, acrylic paints, unlike oils, were readily available. The speed of execution that acrylic allows probably suited the artist's urgent need to express his vision of the past. What kind of "Fate" is he alluding to here, and how did Hungary become this fate? Curator: Ah, there's the enigma. Knowing something of Hungarian history in the 20th century—the trauma of wars and political upheaval. I can't help seeing it as a powerful expression of national suffering rendered with shocking boldness. It is the fate for hungarians: this angry horse running above unstable forms! Editor: Yes! But I wonder if focusing only on the national context limits us? Those bold shapes remind me of building blocks. Childhood itself—distorted by historical trauma? There's a lot of texture; you see it from the raw application. It is like someone applying plaster, and then tearing it all off! Curator: I agree, a deeper perspective can enrich understanding. This painting also made me think of those early cave paintings. This horse seems almost like a primal force erupting from the canvas. It makes one appreciate what Bartos brings into view, that raw vitality and the deep scars of the past together! Editor: Absolutely, there's an uncomfortable dance between the beauty of pure color and the pain inherent in the subject matter. This wasn’t about surface, Bartos challenges what we expect of painting and its materials. What is Fate, if not these two battling forces on the same piece of canvas?