In a skillful translation from Hungarian by Thomas J. and Helen D. DeKornfeld, Erika Szívós provides a meticulously documented study of the relationships between Hungarian artists and the public and the state between 1876 and 1918. The book opens with an overview of the general situation for European artists and art organizations in the nineteenth century, noting that their agendas were often less aesthetically radical and more pragmatic than art history leads us to believe. The overriding concern of artists, Szívós argues, was to secure public exposure and reach potential clients. We learn important, yet little known facts—for instance that the prestigious School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts) in Paris required for admission a language test few foreigners could pass, resulting in their enrolling instead in private schools such as the Académie Julian. Szívós emphasizes the significance of networking for nineteenth-century artists, an endeavor that encompassed foreign study and travels to museums and exhibitions, reading and contributing to an ever-growing number of art journals, and showing their works in galleries and exhibitions at home and abroad.

The remainder of Szívós's study focuses on conditions for Hungarian painters and sculptors during the period 1867–1918. Part II describes the social background and position of artists in Hungary based on a detailed investigation of more than 400 artists. Sources include two revealing yet never fully analyzed studies from 1908 and 1939. Art was regarded as a prestigious profession with aspiring artists often enjoying the support of their families and government support with scholarships and commissions. An impressive 20 percent of male artists were university educated (women could enroll in universities beginning in 1896), and 6 percent were members of the nobility. Szívós investigates the wide range of income sources for artists (scholarships and prizes, commissions and illustrations, teaching and sales, spouses, and family fortunes), revealing the degree to which successful careers required well-honed entrepreneurial skills. Succinct case studies of successful female artists (Ritta Boemm, Mariska Undi, and Anna Korányi) and male artists (Fülőp Lászlóm János Fadrusz, Gyula Benczúr, József Róna) from diverse backgrounds and who followed differing career paths offer readers concrete examples of the options open to artists during this period. For men and women, study abroad was a normative component of their art education due to inadequate training possibilities in Budapest. Thus, most Hungarian artists were bi- or multilingual at a time when most of their countrymen were monolingual. The esteem in which the arts were held in Hungary is further evidenced by the progressive, state-supported project to build studio-homes in Budapest as a response to artists' difficulty finding affordable work and living space in the capital.

In Part III, Szívós examines the political and social situation of the arts between the establishment of the Dual Monarchy and the Hungarian People's Republic in 1918. There we learn that the arts played a key role in Hungary's strategy for recognition as a peer of “cultured European countries” (187) and resulted in the establishment of the National Society of Fine Arts, and the School of Arts (1861) and later master schools for painting (1882), architecture and design (1871), and women (1908). A movement that Szívós aptly terms “folk-style art nouveau” dominated beginning in the 1890s and was championed by the state, appreciated by the public, and supported by a variety of artists' groups, from patriots seeking to root their imagery in indigenous traditions to those concerned with the preservation of handicrafts that were rapidly becoming obsolete. Remarkably, students were sent to artist colonies during the summer, a situation that created strong bonds in Hungary between what were elsewhere often oppositional factions. Conflicts, succinctly summarized by Szívós, escalated after 1900 with the emergence of international modernism, which some envisioned as a threat to integrity of Hungarian art.

Szívós's innovative application of sociological theories derived from professionalization studies to the investigation of artist professionals is apt, revealing, and welcome. She uses them to explain the transition from a focus on economics and survival in the mid nineteenth century to ideological concerns after 1900. Factionalization increased, as did the number of artists' organizations, each promoting its members' special interests. This book is a significant contribution to our understanding of Central European art during this vital period. One regrets only the total lack of illustrations in this stimulating and informative study.