Let there be an exhibition of graphic art! A seemingly unambiguous and simple idea. But as soon as we take a step forward – or, indeed, in any direction – we feel immediately unsettled. Where does the genre of graphic art begin and end – if it ends anywhere, at all? In our world of digital imaging and manipulation software and of computer games available to everyone, in the ubiquity of artificial intelligence enabling anyone to generate images, what do we think of when hearing this expression?

Graphic printmaking has been present in Europe for more than half a millennium. In symbiosis and interaction with printing and its technological developments, it has formed its own constantly expanding formal language throughout the centuries. A number of fundamental aspects in the visual creativity of our time can be tracked back to outstanding artistic prints as well as visual elements deriving from various printing technologies. The Common Multiple exhibition endeavours to present contemporary visitors with a scale of techniques and ideas applied in the genre as broad in a temporal and spatial sense as it is comprehensive in terms of creative attitudes. The selection builds on the entire European tradition, while the modern and contemporary artworks focus primarily on the – Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian – representatives of graphic art in direct contact with Hungarian art.

The curator of the exhibition selected the bulk of the exhibition from three major collections. The most substantial Hungarian collection in terms of international art history, the Prints and Drawings Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, helps invoke the major (German, Italian, French, English, Spanish) centres, periods, and artists of the European tradition (Hogarth, Goya, Beuys, Tàpies). The Collection of the Cracow International Print Triennial, an emblematic event of contemporary graphic art, will be primarily represented by works by the masters of the influential Polish tradition of graphic art (Kaczmarek, Lutomski, Pazera, Pomykała, Tytko) and a number of award-winning artists from Central Europe (Anderle, Berber, Jančovič, Richter).

The third main unit of the exhibition is constituted by the Fine Arts Collection of the Herman Ottó Museum and its affiliate, the Contemporary Collection of the Miskolc Gallery. The city of Miskolc is one of the most important bases of graphic genres, thanks to the local graphic workshop and the Miskolc Graphic Art Triennial presenting the very best of the genre, which enters its thirtieth edition in 2026. The Miskolc collections contribute to a comprehensive presentation of top-notch Hungarian graphic art through the work of such artists as Béla Kondor, Gyula Feledy, Csaba Rékassy, Dóra Maurer, Ilona Keserü, Tibor Rozanits, Árpád Szabados, Gábor Pásztor, Péter Stefanovits, József Gaál, and József Szurcsik. 

Aided by our selection, one may follow the evolution of the genre from the first, relatively small-scale, cabinet-type works to large-scale prints and installations. The viewers may observe how artists have moved from graphic work relying on printing blocks and serial thinking, prevalent until the most recent times, to abandoning the physical blocks and to the concept of serially produced, yet unique artworks.

Curator: Ábel Kónya

Jiří ANDERLE, Mersad BERBER, Tamara BERDOWSKA, Joseph BEUYS, BORGÓ, Jacques CALLOT, CSONTÓ Lajos, FELEDY Gyula, FÜRJESI Csaba, GAÁL József, Jacek GAJ, GALLUSZ Gyöngyi, Francisco de GOYA, Marek GRZYB, Hans HARTUNG, William HOGARTH, HORESNYI Bálint, Róbert JANČOVIČ, Stefan KACZMAREK, KESERÜ Ilona, Jiří KOLÁŘ, KONDOR Béla, KÓTAI Tamás, Paweł KRZYWDZIAK, Zbigniew LUTOMSKI, MADÁCSY István, MAURER Dóra, Rolf MÜNZNER, OLAJOS György, Roman OPAŁKA, Cristian Aurel OPRIȘ, Henryk OŻÓG, Jan PAMUŁA, PÁSZTOR Gábor, Marcin PAZERA, Giovanni Battista PIRANESI, Lech POLCYN, Karol POMYKAŁA, RÁCMOLNÁR Sándor, Marcantonio RAIMONDI, RÉKASSY Csaba, Vjenceslav RICHTER, ROZANITS Tibor, STEFANOVITS Péter, SZABADOS Árpád, SZURCSIK József, Antoni TÀPIES, Krzysztof TOMALSKI, Barbara TYTKO, Bernar VENET, Mieczysław WEJMAN, Ewa ZAWADZKA