No longer sidelined by Koons’ Summer Exhibition entry in the courtyard, the true gem at Burlington House this summer can flourish at last. The show is an aesthetic triumph, presenting Hungary’s paroxysmal history as experienced by its people and documented by its artists. The prevailing five – Brassaï, Capa, Kertész, Moholy-Nagy and Munkácsi – were all Hungarian Jews and it was this group that rose to international prominence. Thousands of citizens fled their anti-Semitic government to further their careers so, without racial or linguistic relatives, perhaps their solitude consequently fed creativity.

The exhibition opens by illustrating the romanticised ‘Hungarian style’ that sought to communicate Hungary’s character against influential European practice. The first room includes breathtaking landscapes and a carefree vitality that contrasts harshly with the aftermath of WWI. Dramatic photographs of executions and life in the trenches evidence extraordinary documentation, both beautiful and moving. Following the émigrés to Europe and America, here we find the masterpieces: Brassaï’s Parisian nighthawks, Moholy-Nagy’s photograms and Capa’s infamous Death of a Loyalist Militiaman. Munkácsi’s shots for Harper’s Bazaar redefined fashion photography and Kertész’s melancholic Lost Cloud considers Hungary’s loneliness. The fourth room outlines the horrors of WWII. These images, particularly Capa’s shots of the D-Day landing, are the most powerful in the show, if not of all war photography. The exhibition ends with the Berlin Wall’s collapse and the subsequent globalisation that saw Hungary abandon its unique art form.

‘Eyewitness’ introduces an emotional language of images that enabled Hungarians to speak directly to the world and alleviate their exile. Nevertheless, the exhibition portrays how one nation could surpass others in artistic prowess. Perhaps Capa was on to something. ‘It’s not enough to have talent’, he once said. ‘You also have to be Hungarian’.

Until Oct 2

AMY BUBB