A Ma és a nemzetközi konstruktivizmus (1921–1925) = Ma and International Constructivism (1921–1925)

Szeredi, Merse Pál (2026) A Ma és a nemzetközi konstruktivizmus (1921–1925) = Ma and International Constructivism (1921–1925). ARS HUNGARICA, 52 (1). pp. 55-89. ISSN 0133-1531

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Abstract

Tanulmányomban Kassák lajos Ma című avantgárd irodalmi és képzőművészeti folyóiratának kapcso- latait vizsgálom az összefoglaló néven nemzetközi konstruktivizmusnak nevezett művészeti mozga- lommal a bécsi emigráció idején, 1921 és 1925 között.1 A tanulmány hat, egymást kronologikusan követő esettanulmányt tartalmaz, amelyek tematikusan kap- csolódnak egymáshoz, azonban nem alkotnak egysé- ges, új narratívát. Célom az, hogy a hazai és külföldi archívumokban található írott és vizuális források, valamint a Ma és az európai avantgárd folyóiratok tar- talmi vizsgálatán keresztül kiegészítsem és árnyal- jam a korábbi szakirodalomban megfogalmazott, alapvetően helytálló megállapításokat. | This article examines the connections between Ma (Today), a Hungarian avant-garde literary and visual arts magazine edited by Lajos Kassák, and the artistic movement commonly subsumed under the umbrella term of international Constructivism during the years of Kassák Vienna exile between 1921 and 1925. The article comprises six chronologically ordered case studies which are thematically interrelated, yet do not seek to construct a unified new narrative. My aim is to complement and nuance the fundamentally sound conclusions of earlier scholarship through the analysis of manuscript and visual sources preserved in Hungarian and international archives, as well as through a close examination of the contents of Ma and other European avant-garde journals. Building upon the analytical frameworks established in Hungarian scholarship by Júlia Szabó, Krisztina Passuth, Éva Bajkay, Éva Forgács, and Olivér Botár, I argue that Kassák’s Expressionist art movement and the journal Ma became integrated into the international network of European avant-garde periodicals and movements no later than the first half of 1922, during the Vienna exile. This network consisted of groups that placed at the centre of their artistic theory the conjunction of geometric abstraction and modern technology, and that responded to the achievements of Russian Constructivism, which became widely known outside of Soviet Russia during 1922. These international Constructivist groups were formed largely in Germany: in Berlin, under the leadership of figures such as El Lissitzky, Moholy-Nagy, and Alfréd Kemény; and in Weimar, in the circle of Theo van Doesburg, editor of the journal De Stijl, who at the time collaborated with the Bauhaus. Through astute judgement and a rapid responsiveness to the dynamics perceptible within international avant-garde networks, Kassák’s journal, albeit edited in a semi-peripheral location in Vienna, was integrated into a multilingual Constructivist network grounded in international solidarity, of which it remained one of the principal representatives and driving forces until the mid-1920s. This article analyses selected stages of this process primarily within the framework of personal connections and the largely virtual networks established between periodicals, with particular attention to identifying the sources and first publications of international Constructivist manifestos, writings, and reproductions, as well as to demonstrating the instances in which Kassák was able to present original, previously unpublished works in Ma. One of the central figures in this process was László Moholy-Nagy, who acted as Ma’s Berlin representative between 1921 and the summer of 1922, and who, at Kassák’s request, facilitated the development of the journal’s international network in the German capital. The first chapter explores the relationship between Ma and Hans Richter, who emerged as one of the leading figures of the international Constructivist movement. As early as the summer of 1921, Kassák published frames from the abstract film projects of Richter and his collaborator Viking Eggeling in his Vienna-based journal. These images appeared in parallel with their now canonical publication in De Stijl, and their sources were most likely original scroll drawings sent by Richter to Vienna via Moholy-Nagy. The second chapter focuses on the journal L’Esprit nouveau, which became a partner of Ma through the intermediary efforts of Moholy-Nagy. In 1922–1923, Kassák repeatedly referred to the modernist periodical edited by Le Corbusier, from which he adopted several images and texts. Alongside De Stijl and the Berlin-based Вещь/Objet/Gegenstand, edited by El Lissitzky, L’Esprit nouveau exerted a decisive influence on the programme developed by Ma in 1922, which advocated the close integration of modern art with modern technology and industry. The editorial office of L’Esprit nouveau also served as an important source for the image anthology Új művészek könyve (Book of New Artists), edited by Kassák and Moholy-Nagy. Two extended chapters (ch. 3 and 4) offer a detailed analysis of two particularly significant issues of Ma: the “emigration jubilee” double issue of 1 May 1922, which first presented the international Constructivist programme, and the German special issue (Deutsches Sonderheft) published in March 1923, which was Ma’s first non-Hungarian-language issue during the period of exile (followed only by two further non-Hungarian special issues in 1924 and 1925). In the expanded May 1922 issue, Kassák departed markedly from the predominantly Dadaist orientation of earlier issues (volumes 6 and 7), and instead implemented the international Constructivist editorial principles articulated by De Stijl, L’Esprit nouveau, and Вещь/Objet/ Gegenstand. This issue represented the first moment at which Kassák edited Ma not merely as a modern artistic and literary journal addressed to a Hungarian readership, but as a publication explicitly intended for an international audience – more precisely, for an international viewing public. Less than a year later, the German special issue appeared in a markedly different context. By that time, Kassák’s journal had become a significant periodical within the international Constructivist group, and, following the departure of several core members of the Hungarian activist group, it increasingly focused on foreign written and visual material. Like the May 1922 issue, the German special issue was published in an expanded format and constituted a striking demonstration of Kassák’s Constructivist programme, featuring contributions from leading members of the international Constructivist movement. In addition to positioning Ma within a European context, the issue also conveyed a clear message to the Hungarian émigré community in Vienna: in his introductory essay Rechenscahft (Report), Kassák declared his opposition to the Proletkult-oriented direction advocated by the journals Egység (Unity) and Akasztott Ember (Hanged Man), edited by Kassák’s brothers-in-law and former collaborators Béla Uitz and Sándor Barta, respectively. In the concluding chapters, I uncover two further, previously less-examined connections established by Kassák and Ma through the international Constructivist network. The fifth chapter analyses the relationship between Kassák and the Stuttgart-based avant-garde artist Willi Baumeister, drawing on publications in Ma and Dokumentum, as well as documents preserved in Kassák’s archives. The sixth chapter examines the connections between Kassák and two leading figures of the Danish left-wing avant-garde literary and artistic group, Rud Broby and Harald Landt Momberg. For these young Danish artists, Kassák’s journal served in 1924–25 as a clear model and point of reference in the formulation of the programmes of their own periodicals.

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