In 2008, just ten years ago, we opened in Budapest’s Belváros in the hope of smuggling some art into the everyday life of the neighbourhood between Ferenciek tere and Astoria. Since then, we have become a familiar, sure thing in the lives of those who visit us, and certainly in the lives of those who just glance through the glass when they walk past the corner of Szép utca and Kossuth utca. For 10 years, our gallery has included another story, or more than one story, in addition to its own… The story of our home, 3 Kossuth utca, dates back to the 19th century and recalls important historical events such as the 1848-49 Revolution and the War of Independence. The former occupants of the house would swell into an illustrious group in an imaginary photo. Let’s imagine a picture of János Arany, Mihály Vörösmarty, József Bajza, János Garay, Lajos Kossuth… Among others, they lived in the building, which now houses our gallery on the lower floor.
The house, which is the home of the Vándorfény Gallery, is a monument of contemporary architecture, but even today, its street front walls and interior details still offer an exceptional aesthetic experience. The building is a neoclassical corner house from 1814, designed by Mihály Pollack The land on which the house was built was originally intended for the Hungarian National Museum. After the plan failed, the land was parcelled up and the builder, János Horváth Szentgyörgyi Horváth, was given the land. Interestingly, this house was the last one in Pest to be built by serf labour…
Perhaps the first moment in the later artistic life of the house was when Samuel Lehnhard opened an engraving workshop here in 1817.
Due to its deteriorated condition after the flood of 1838, the building was remodeled by the new owner, Horváth Ödön Szentgyörgyi, based on the plans of Ferenc Wieser. In the middle of the 19th century, the Horváth House was given a new look and new stylistic features, with the façade, the entrance hall and the staircase being decorated in a new style inspired by Romanticism. The building was one of the most famous tenement houses in Pest in its time, and stood out from the crowd.
However, the reason why the Kossuths edited the Pesti Hírlap in 1841, or the Vörösmartys the Atheneum, and the National Circle led by Vörösmarty and Count Teleki Lajos met here between 1845 and 1847, was not because of the house’s fame, but because until 1852 the building was home to the Landerer printing house, which was also a publishing house, and was already well known from the events of 1848. Lajos Landerer’s printing partner was Gusztáv Heckenast, a bookseller, and their joint venture produced a large part of literary publications, but they also produced sheet music and printed theatre posters. The business was an important milestone in the dissemination of cultural values and was at the forefront of printing technology.
Landerer and Heckenast’s enterprise – and with it the building – has made its mark not only on cultural history but also on history with the events of 1848. It was here that Petőfi and his family occupied the printing house in the revolutionary cavalcade, where they printed the lines of the National Song and the Twelve Points: “Let there be peace, freedom and understanding…” – the revolutionaries’ demands were proclaimed on the leaflets that came out of the printing house that was located on the site of our gallery.
Later, the Kammon Café opened on the site of the printing house, opening a new chapter in the building’s history as a meeting point for young artists…
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