Nagy Károly

“The bronze statue of nearly five-and-half meter was cast in 60 pieces. Each piece weighted 100-120 kg. Even to move the pieces required many people and good organization. In 2011, this statue was raised for Mr. Sándor Wekerle, eminent statesman of Hungary in Mór, his birthplace. The sculptor was Mr. Benedek Nagy, my father.”

A dozen students helped when needed. Welders made excellent works as well. Welded seams were grinded, then the statue received a patina layer, so its surface turned more beautiful.

Lost-wax casting (cire perdue method) is applied. As example, the birth of a public-area statue is presented using the sculpture of J. Zichy, a famous statesman. A mold is made of the original model, using polyurethane rubber; an outer mold is made from plaster. Once the mold is finished, molten wax is poured into it until an even coating covers the inner surface of the mold. Beeswax was used before, a Niral material now.

Metal is melted in a crucible in the furnace in his yard, and then poured carefully into the shell. It is no secret, either, that every public statue has a huge steel rod in the middle, that the metal thieves could not steal the statue.

He has casted, using bronze, a lot of things: man or horse, small or large. But it does not matter what the sculpture represent. For a caster, the important thing is to pursue exactly the vision of the artist. This does not just mean a perfect shape, but the choice of material, color and patina. Without partnership, technical expertise and humility the trade is not conceivable.

„Is there any temptation to add a little something to the model when working on an important piece?” „We correct a model only if the bronze thickness needs. There is a story of a help-mate caster, who, jokingly, aligned the tail of the horse from right to left at an equstrian statue, made by Pátzay, the famous professor of the Academy. The Master did not appreciate the joke.”

To know the material is a key issue. You must exactly know the behaviour of the alloys. Melting the copper, it is important how much tin or other metal are added. “ A designer asked me to produce some lamp arms of aluminum. Casting of aluminum is rather an industrial procedure. Expensive, and remunerative for large series only. I will stay at bronze and at the statues. “

His father, sister, and brother-in-law: all sculptors. Among these excellent artists he has no artistic ambitions. He, however, observes the slowly evolving waves of the wax, poured to the water: as the lava flowing out of a volcano.

Just for curiosity, he needed to cast the waves using iron and bronze. An interesting form came out from a bunch of dry flowers, and the miniature window frames framed together look well.

13/7/2012 Mór