Kovács Zita - Bálint Attila : Az Éber-Emlékház. Id. Éber Sándor, ifj. Éber Sándor és Éber Anna művészete - A Bajai Türr István Múzeum kiadványai 28. (Baja, 1999)

the spring of 1928, which was printed in the local newspaper, reflects Éber's modern approach to music aesthetics. He was an ardent protector of the city's monuments. In 1919, he proposed that an art colony be established in Baja. In 1947, he organized an exhibition from his late works in Baja, Pécs and Szekszárd. His painter children Anna and Sándor, Jr. also participated with their own works. Sándor Éber, Sr. died in December in the same year. The funeral oration was given by painter Gyula Rudnay, the director of the Baja art colony, which, by then, had been established. The studio, however, did not become deserted for a moment. Two of his seven children, his daughter Anna Éber (born in 1905) and his son Sándor Éber, Jr. (1909-1985) were inspired by the magic spell and atmosphere of their father's studio. From 1927 to 1931, Sándor Éber, Jr. studied under Gyula Rudnay in the College of Art. It was Rudnay who drew his attention to pastel very early on. After his study trip to Paris, from 1940 on, he worked almost exclusively with pastel. He returned to his hometown in 1931. He taught in Baja for 38 years in Béla III Secondary School, in the Technical Polytechnic and in the Teacher Training College. Later he worked as a school inspector, visiting the schools of Baranya and Bács-Kiskun counties. His art history lectures were important events in the cultural life of the city. Influenced by his father, he learned fresco and sgrafitto. His murals adorn the walls of many institutions in the region. Sándor Éber, Jr. was the master of pastel. "As a kid, I kneaded colorful cray­on-doughs for my father. I got to like them immensely" - he said. His borrows his subjects from the natural environment - the Danube, the forests in the flood-plains of the river, the fens - of his homeland, and from the lives of the old fishermen of the region. The backwaters, the Cserta-Duna, the shallows, the old trees, the fishermen's barges, the silent waters appearing in his works all reflect the unchanging beauty of eternal nature. But as the century proceeds towards its end, Sándor Éber, Jr.'s art also becomes gloomier. In his 1969 exhibition catalogue, he writes the following words: "The ancient water-mills only survive in my pictures. Icy floods devastated the arches of the Vöröshíd ("the Red Bridge"). There is but one surviving fishermen's barge ringing in the Sugovica with its carved, proud prow. I must hurry. The Danube too will be confined within a new, unnatural river bed." In the third and fourth rooms - the studio - of the Éber house, the visitor encounters the works of Sándor Éber, Jr. Some folk pottery and ginger-bread forms also hang on the walls. Sándor Éber, Jr.'s landscapes hang above the inlaid furniture he designed. The many styles and fashionable isms of the 20th century are never attractive enough for him to betray the simple beauty of 22

Next

/
Thumbnails
Contents