Turin 1911: The World's Fair in Italy

Digital File Front Image

Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Padiglione Ungherese architetti progettori Prof E. Töry & M. Pogány

Name of Publisher/Creator Identity
Societé Anonyme Hongroise pour l'Art de Reproduction

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Date of Publication/Creation Date
1911 ca.

Inscription Language
Italian (Language)

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Descriptive Note Text

This postcard belongs to a series dedicated to the Pavilion of Hungary and its architects, reflecting a broader visual and cultural interest in national representation at the exposition. The composition foregrounds the pavilion’s distinctive chromatic scheme, emphasizing a palette that ranges from red ochre and green to yellow and blue. This vivid polychromy stands in deliberate contrast to the prevailing whiteness that characterized many of the pavilions constructed in the Turinese baroque revival style, thereby marking the Hungarian structure as both visually and ideologically distinct within the exhibition landscape.

The use of such colors was not merely decorative but deeply rooted in contemporary interpretations of Hungarian national identity. These hues drew upon folkloric traditions that had, by the early twentieth century, become central to the revival and institutionalization of Hungarian arts and crafts. In this context, the pavilion’s aesthetic can be understood as part of a broader movement that sought to articulate a national style through the selective appropriation and stylization of vernacular motifs. The postcard thus functions not only as a visual record of architectural design but also as a medium through which narratives of cultural authenticity and national distinctiveness were disseminated to an international audience.

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