Bookplate, The book of the Department of Gynaecology, University of Debrecen

Jenő Haranghy was an outstanding figure of 20th-century graphic art in Hungary, and particularly in Debrecen. A versatile master of applied art, he was active in diverse fields, from bookplates, illustrations and posters to monumental forms, like the murals and painted glass windows of Hotel Britannia (now Radisson Blu Béke) and Mátyás Pince, the restaurant, both in Budapest.
Born in Debrecen, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, and then at the School of Applied Arts, where one of his mentors was Ferenc Helbing, a pioneer of Hungarian commercial graphic art. Haranghy succeeded him as head of the department. He was a brilliant draughtsman, and many of his students went on to be famous artists.
He was still in grammar school when József Nagy, the renowned collector in Debrecen, called his attention to minor genres of graphics. His early works were of an Art Nouveau sensibility. The salient characteristics of his works were a stylized naturalism, anatomical accuracy, historical authenticity and the vigorous dynamism of strong contours.
He designed a bookplate for the library of the University of Debrecen’s Gynaecological Clinic in 1927. It features a mother nursing and protecting her child, enclosed in a round wreath of leaves. The way the two closely connected figures emerge from the casual lines bear witness to Haranghy’s superior drawing skills.