Ország Lili Itáliai Vázlatfüzetei

Abstract

Abstract Lili Ország visited Italy five times between 1968 and 1972. During her travels she prepared numerous sketches and drawings, which are now held at the Archives of the Hungarian National Gallery. The six sketchbooks filled during her trips to Italy are dominated by registration of the Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples experiences, nevertheless there are pages drawn full in Rome as well. So far art history literature has only briefly touched upon these sketchbooks. The present essay, through examples of those pages where the subject of sketches has been clearly identified, intends to analyse methods of picture construction and composition in the art of Lili Ország, and also to underline the importance of Italian, especially Pompeian experience in her works. Preponderant majority of sketches — drawn with pencil, ball-point pen or marker as aide memoires — delineate painted walls of Pompeii, yet antique sculptures, some mosaics, and as an exception to the rule a few panel paintings and papyrus scrolls also come up in the sketchbooks. Latter also serve as specific examples for borrowing motifs. Figural scenes among Pompeian frescoes hardly fascinated Lili Ország, it was rather the system of decorative wall-panes, their colours, the changing rythm of patches (that is the third Pompeian style), and also illusionistic architectural spaces (the second style) that made her trace them religiously. In her sketches she paid attention to exact representation of proportions and composition, the expressiveness of her outlines is exceptional. She registered colours in detail, using denominations that evoque material consistence. She precisely traced all injuries of walls, including abrasion, cracks or patches of mortar. She felt only those motifs (be human figures or objects) worth of treasuring for later use, that had an air of bizarre or peculiar. She loved pictures and sculptures with mystical influences, she was interested in instruments that could reach the desirable effect (worn down green walls, fragmented stuccoes). The majority of sculptures drawn can be characterized by abundant drapery hiding the forms of human body. Representation of human figures in general can be marked by the lack of sensual visualisation, faces are scarcely ever individualised. Expressive power of figures, their emotions, states of mind are transmitted by postures and gestures. While she had already lit on the basic elements of her paintings well before her Italian travels, the Pompeian experience was key to further development of her composing methods. This impulse unequivocally contributed to the creation of the Labyrinth-series. The division of the wall surface into smaller units, the lapsing system of picture panes, the rythm of coulorful, often pale patches served as essential sources of inspiration.