lajos kassák in wien, um 1922mischtechnik/collage, 1923buch neuer künstler, lajos kassák & lászló moholy-nagy, wien, 1922portrait of lajos kassák by lajos tihanyi, 1918képarchitektúra (picture architecture), 1922titelblatt der zeitschrift MA, wien, 1924der MA-kreis in wien, um 1922untitled (twenty/twintig), 1921lajos kassák in budapest by józsef pécsi, 1927-28photographies de collages, ca. 1926lajos kassák & jolán simon by dénes rónai, 1927tó mozi (tó kino), 1928lajos kassák in budapest by elemér vattay, 1964
lajos kassák (1887-1967) budapest, hungary
"the father of every good work is discontent, and its mother is diligence."
kassák's journey led him from uneducated metalworker to author, publisher, artist, theorist & designer - the self-educated leader of the hungarian avant garde. his journals a tett (the deed, 1915-1916) and MA (today, 1916-1925) displayed typographic virtuosity. he led his activist circle in urging art to effect social change. he objected to the rules of any authority but his own.
during the hungarian soviet republic in 1919, he became a member of the special writers directorate, but after fierce debates with the republic's leader, béla kun, he decided to distance himself from bolshevism. he always remained leftist & never made a distinction between a socially responsible individual & an artist. during his vienna exile (1919-1926), after his involvement in the failed hungarian uprising of 1919, kassák engaged in visual art, created collages & undertook design work for advertising. eventually returning to budapest, kassák continued publishing journals, such as dokumentum (1926-1927) and munka (work, 1928-1939).
MA became one of the longest surviving avant-garde periodicals in europe, publishing from 1916-1925. the MA circle of writers & artists included béla uitz, iván hevesy, sándor bortnyik, ernö kállai, jános máttis teutsch & lászlo moholy-nagy among others. MA sampled creations of futurism, expressionism, cubism & dadaism from all over europe, promoted bartók & modern music alongside new literature & the pioneering theatre of jános mácza.