A Tett (The Action) was a Hungarian magazine published by Lajos Kassák from 1915 to 1916. It advocated an anarchist-pacifist outlook. Kassák sponsored several activities opposing the war – exhibitions of avant-garde art by socialist painters and lectures by left-leaning intellectuals. He also published work by foreign "enemy" artists and writers. [1] It was modelled on Franz Pfemfert's German magazine Die Aktion . [1] It presented a challenge to Nyugat , the established literary journal in the Kingdom of Hungary. [2]
17 issues were produced, 12 with the same cover designed by Pál Pátzay. [3]
Kassák published "Programm" in A Tett No.2 (March 1916). [4] Here he advocated a "New literature" which should be "freed from all conventional 'ideological' and technical trends". He maintained it should be outside all "isms", an enemy of all wars and not geared to the interests of any race or nation. His final point was "The glorified ideal of the new literature is the Infinite Man!"
The magazine was the first magazine banned by the prosecutor's office in October 1916. [4] They were accused of "undermining warfare objectives of the country". [2]
Kassák replaced it by launching MA with a more cautious strap line, "journal of literature and art". [1] [2]
Contributors include:
Nyugat, was an important Hungarian literary journal in the first half of the 20th century. Writers and poets from that era are referred to as "1st/2nd/3rd generation of the NYUGAT".
Gyula Illyés born Gyula Illés was a Hungarian poet and novelist. He was one of the so-called népi writers, named so because they aimed to show – propelled by strong sociological interest and left-wing convictions – the disadvantageous conditions of their native land.
Lajos Kassák was a Hungarian poet, novelist, painter, essayist, editor, theoretician of the avant-garde, and occasional translator. He was among the first genuine working-class writers in Hungarian literature.
János Mattis-Teutsch or Máttis-Teutsch, Mátis-Teutsch was a Hungarian painter, sculptor, graphic artist, art critic, and poet. Best known for his Seelenblumen ("Soulflowers") cycle of paintings, he was an important contributor to the development of modern art and avant-garde trends inside Romania. He was the grandfather of the artist Waldemar Mattis-Teutsch.
Hugó Scheiber was a Hungarian modernist painter.
István (Etienne) Beöthy was a Hungarian sculptor and architect who mainly lived and worked in France.
Dragan Aleksić was a Serbian Dadaist poet, author, journalist and filmmaker. He was the founder of the Yugoslavian branch of Dadaism, termed "Yugo-Dada".
Lajos Tihanyi was a Hungarian painter and lithographer who achieved international renown working outside his country, primarily in Paris, France. After emigrating in 1919, he never returned to Hungary, even on a visit.
Francis Haar born as Haár Ferenc was a Hungarian socio-photographer. He studied interior architecture at Hungarian Royal National School of Arts and Crafts between 1924 and 1927. His master was Gyula Kaesz.
Jozsef Wolfner was a Hungarian publisher, founder of the publishing house Singer and Wolfner.
Pál Pátzay was a Hungarian sculptor who was named a deputy by a transitional Hungarian government in 1945. He made a statue memorializing Raoul Wallenberg's fight against Nazism, which was later removed then reinterpreted by the Soviets as medical science fighting disease.
Béla Uitz was a Hungarian painter and communist activist.
Egység was a communist Hungarian art magazine published in Vienna and Berlin between 1922 and 1924. The full title was Egység, Irodalom, Müvészet which means "Unity, Literature, Art".
Aladár Komját was a Hungarian poet and communist activist.
Ma is a Hungarian magazine connected with the Magyar Aktivizmus artistic group whose title not only reflects their initials but also means "today". It was founded in 1916 in Budapest by Lajos Kassák, who continued to publish it in exile in Vienna until 1925.
Sándor Barta was a Hungarian poet active in various avant-garde movements. After emigrating to the Soviet Union, he remained active amongst German-speaking cultural groups. He was an active agent in carrying out the Stalinist purges amongst the literary intelligentsia, but was himself arrested by the Soviet authorities and shot in 1938.
Erzsi Újvári was a Hungarian poet.
Akasztott Ember was a Hungarian language avant-garde art magazine published in Vienna by Sándor Barta. Five issues appeared between November 1922 and February 1923. It was subtitled "The Organ of Universal Socialist Culture".
Ernő Kállai was a Hungarian art critic who was involved in the promotion of and theorisation around Constructivism.