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Biography
Margit Tevan was a 20th century Hungarian goldsmith. She was born on 18 January 1901 into a Jewish family and died on 3 November 1978.
Studies and training
Margit Tevan was born on 18 January 1901 in Békéscsaba (Hungary) into a Jewish family whose father was running an important editing house. She started her artistic studies at the Academy of Applied Arts in Budapest and after one year specialized with some of the most famous goldsmiths of the time: Richard Zutt and Ferenc (Francis) Kiss. Not being interested in making jewels, she later joined Arpád Vértes' workshop which was better known under the name of "Stúdió" (1927-1928). In 1927 she married the chemical engineer Miklós Engel and moved to Budapest. By creating boxes and plates, she innovates the goldsmith tradition which at the time was more interested in making vases and bowls.
Influence and creations
The influence of the Bauhaus school is evident in her early work. She then continued her artistic development towards an archaic romanticism, influenced by Romanesque art and the simplicity of the motifs which she used, especially in her friezes which decorate her boxes and plates. Her many objects which she produced during her whole life are mainly hand hammered silver-leafed copper.
One can find traces of references to both Jewish and Christian culture in her work. She continued her production during Communism where she kept her poetic register with smaller works that are sometimes offered as presents.
War and persecution
Between 1944 and 1945, she was forced to live in the international ghetto of Budapest and obtained a safe conduct passport from the Swedish authorities.
Acknowledgements and prizes
She participated in numerous exhibitions and received a Diplôme d'honneur for her work during the Paris World Exhibition in 1937. She also obtained a similar diploma during the 1939 New York World Fair. Finally, she won the silver medal at the VII Milan Triennale of 1940. In 1957, she won the Munkácsy Prize, the highest artistic recognition in Hungary, as well as numerous other prizes between 1971 and 1976. She died in Budapest on 3 November 1978.
Descendants
Her son, Engel Tevan István, was born in 1936, worked as a well-known book illustrator, and passed away in 1996.
