Bernáth Aurél Illyés Gyula Puszták népe című művéhez készített borítója
Aurél Bernáth’s cover designs for Gyula Illyés’s People of the Puszta

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses Aurél Bernáth’s cover designs for Gyula Illyés’s People of the Puszta; the aim is to present the stages of the two artists’ friendship and draw attention to the importance of these literary illustrations. The author has tried to place these drawings in the context of the artist’s oeuvre and has also explored Bernáth’s encounters and personal contacts with Illyés which contribute to an understanding of these works of art. Several details of these works are difficult to grasp without knowledge of the poem or the book which they illustrate. When considering illustrations to Illyés’s books, it is possible that Piroska Szántó’s drawings in the Seventy-Seven Hungarian Folk Tales or some drawings from Miklós Borsos’s illustration series may at first come to mind. However, several engravings, drawings, and paintings remain unknown to researchers and the general public alike. This is partly due to the fact that many such illustrations have not been published; they have certainly never been collected and processed before.

• Details
• Contents