Portrait of writer Lydia Kovács (1913)

Aladár Kacziány was an outstanding figure and perhaps the last great master of Art Nouveau art. He studied at the National Royal Hungarian School of Applied Arts, then continued his studies in Rome and Florence on a scholarship. His first public appearance after his return home was at the Autumn Exhibition of the Kunsthalle. His oil paintings, watercolours and even graphic works are strongly influenced by Italy. He had his first successful exhibition at the National Salon in 1919, followed by regular exhibitions at home and abroad. Dante's Dream was awarded the Dante Prize. He was a member of the Association of Spiritual Artists, founded in 1924. He regularly exhibited his oil paintings, watercolours and drawings at the association's exhibitions at the National Salon and later at the New Salon (later the Studio). In 1930 he painted the side altarpiece of the Minorite Church in Eger. In 1933 he was appointed as a teacher at the School of Applied Arts, and from 1934 he became a full teacher, retiring in 1948.

Kacziány's portrait is related to the works of the Pre-Raphaelites. From a Romantic point of view, the English movement idealised bourgeois society, the Middle Ages and the paintings of Raphael. The movement was followed by several artists in Hungary from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Their influence can be seen in the community organisation of the artists of Gödöllő and their efforts to revive the craft tradition, and especially in the changes in drawing and applied graphics. Lydia Kovács (1887-1918) was a writer and reporter. One of the most talented journalists of the 1910s, her work was recognised by the journalistic community. Her subjects revolved around Budapest, but she also visited a few rural locations for a more in-depth look at a story. She was interested in the plight of women and children. He published several volumes, of which Two Years. Pictures from the Pest Front, illustrated by Kacziány. In 1913, Lydia Kovács wrote an article entitled Japanese Table, which featured the regulars of the famous café, a table of contemporary Hungarian artists, in a photo report for the Érdekes Újság. In the same year, Kacziány captured the barely 26-year-old writer in puritan surroundings, in ancient dress (more reminiscent of a Roman soldier's robe), robustly portrayed, her face more like a man's. Only her hand position - the way the back of her hand gently touches her cheek - suggests otherwise.