Hungarian Art History's Self-Colonization Through Western Pop Art Labels Examined

In a 2002 essay, Katalin Timár and Attila Horányi critique the use of Western labels such as "Pop Art" in relation to Hungarian art, suggesting that this practice leads to a self-colonizing effect. They focus on Hungarian artworks from the mid-1960s, highlighting pieces by Sándor Altorjai, György Jovánovics, and Sándor Pinczehelyi, and argue that these terms obscure their historical context. The essay also discusses the reception of Pop Art in Hungary since the late 1960s, connecting it to "sur-naturalism," which was introduced by Géza Perneczky in 1964. László Beke's use of "Pop Art" in a 1960s exhibition catalog influenced perceptions. It critiques the unexamined adoption of Western frameworks, referencing theorists like Rosalind Krauss and Hal Foster, and concludes that multivocal recoding could mitigate colonial influences.