Talent versus genius: a comparative, statistics-based reception history of Csaba Rékassy and Béla Kondor

Abstract

From the 1970s, there has been a strong tendency in Hungarian art history and criticism to regard the artist Béla Kondor (1931–1972) as an exceptional genius and a prophetic figure, while other artists, such as Csaba Rékassy (1937–1989), have been labelled as merely talented albeit with excellent skills. Since then, Rékassy has been forgotten, while Kondor has been elevated to legendary status. While art historians typically explore the reasons for their different reception using traditional historical methods, here I have chosen another approach by applying statistical analysis to investigate the roots of this polarized view. The study relies on Arcanum, a digital periodical database containing nearly all the journals of the era, including daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and journals specialized on art.

The study examines the distribution of annual reference lists given by full-text search for these two artists, first during their lifetimes and then in their afterlives. The graphs reveal that although Kondor was slightly better known to the public, they followed surprisingly similar career paths. Their early careers are characterized by slow, gradual rise, followed by breakthrough successes at the age of 34. Each had four significant career peaks; in both cases their deaths generated the highest number of citations and these numbers far exceed the citations they received for their greatest achievements during their lifetime.

However, the graphs of their post-career reception are strikingly different: Kondor’s curve breaks the sky several times, while Rékassy’s diagram declines and remains relatively low. Interestingly, this decline does not indicate complete neglect but rather a lack of sustained recognition from the media. Through quantitative data analysis, this research not only visualizes the contrasting reception history of these two artists, but traces the steps of systematic construction of Kondor’s posthumous career. Finally I will discuss the reasons of their different reception and explore the historical and professional circumstances that made Kondor more suitable than others to become a (local) legend.