The metamorphoses of Árpád and the monarchs

Painting-caricatures of Hungarian artists on the pages of comic papers (1890–1910)

Abstract

This study explores a particular interface between fine art and mass culture: how cartoonists reimagined a well-known or lesser-known painting or illustration. I analyse political cartoons based on these reworkings in four selected Budapest comic papers (Bolond Istók, Borsszem Jankó, Kakas Márton and Üstökös) between 1890 and 1910. In the present study, I analyse only those drawings whose originals feature the leader Árpád or a ruler as the protagonist and relate the paintings to their actions. The caricaturists replaced them with political figures, thus updating the message of the paintings.
First I will present the actualised metamorphoses of Árpád, then the transformations of the rulers of later periods, followed by the reimagined representations of the contemporaries, Franz Joseph and Elisabeth. I close the analysis with an example from abroad.