Description

János Kass’s embossed print titled Hommage à Bartók was created in 1978 in memory of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók.
Although there was no personal connection between Kass and Bartók—Bartók passed away in 1945, and Kass was born in 1927—the graphic artist paid tribute to the composer through numerous works, fostering a spiritual and artistic relationship with him.

As a visual artist, Kass often drew inspiration from music, particularly from the works of modern Hungarian composers. Bartók—due to his music, ethnomusicological research, and international influence—was a natural choice for Kass. In fact, Kass created several Bartók-inspired graphics, including a series illustrating the world-famous opera Bluebeard’s Castle, and he also participated in cultural projects aimed at preserving and promoting Bartók’s legacy.

For Kass, Bartók was a kind of cultural hero, a source of inspiration whose art he sought to evoke and interpret visually.

The refined embossed print, limited to 100 copies, was made using a graphic technique in which the paper is pressed onto a mold to create depressions and elevations, giving the piece a tactile, textured quality and a three-dimensional effect. Its visual language evokes stylized tuning forks.

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