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Béni Ferenczy's medal, made in 1936, is one of the most powerful portrayals of Béla Bartók. The features of the portrait on the obverse, especially the high forehead, reveal a personality with out standing intellect. Despite the large format, there is legend on the obverse; thus the central idea of the work can exercise its full impact without any distractions. Ferenczy's harmonious, yet dramatic style relies on Antique tradition, a fact which is especially apparent in the composition on the reverse.
The breakthrough in the classical interpretation of the relationship between obverse and reverse is well illustrated on this coin when the artist reinterprets the central idea on the reverse. A quotation from Endre Ady, written in artistic letters paraphrases the river meandering between flat beaches and the cone-shaped hills in the background. The surface of the medal was carefully chiselled, so that the light shining on the bronze creates a painterly effect.
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