Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Mimi Kratochwill: Béla Czóbel's mature period, 1925-1976
238. CzÓBEL WITH THE HATVÁNY FAMILY IN HATVAN IN THE 1930S. PRIVATE COLLECTION The exhibition material was presented in an elegant album, which featured works by Dufy, Gromaire, André Lhote and others, and were accompanied by literary texts by, for example, Georges Pillement and Ferdinand Vallon. We are able to follow Czóbel’s life and work in Hungary again from the early 1930s. From this time on he lived as a guest in Hatvan, in the family castle of Baron Ferenc Hatvany (1881-1958), a painter and esteemed art collector whom he had known and loved as a friend from the early years of the century. The interiors of the castle, the park (and Kisgombos, the manor not far from the main estate) provided the artist with a wealth of themes to paint. He also immortalized his hosts, the members of the Hatvany family, and more especially Ferenc’s sister, Irén, who was the soul and the lady of the castle. Relatives and friends of the Hatvany family spent varying periods of time here in summer, many of whom were respectable and esteemed personalities, among them Gizi Bajor, Attila József, Sándor Bródy, Anna Lesznai, Pál Ignotus, Sándor Hunyadi and Ödön Szmrecsányi. The guests of the family also included Thomas Mann, who modelled one of the female figures in his novel Doctor Faustus on Irén Hatvany. Julius Meyer- Graefe also visited Hatvan, as well as the family’s residence in Pest (Budapest). Czóbel in Hatvan felt free and was surrounded by the love of his friends. This happy period, which lasted over a decade, is reflected by numerous of his works. He was primarily occupied by painting and drawing here. Independently of the other guests, he would rise early and take breakfast with the staff in the large kitchen (the lady of the house respected this and did not disturb him during his breakfasts in the kitchen because; on these occasions she did not regard him as a guest). She would let him use their little horse-drawn carriage when he wished to paint in the countryside around Kisgombos and needed to take his painting equipment. As throughout his life, wherever he was, he would always strictly devote his mornings to drawing and painting. Afterthe well-known themes of his previous works, here he was enchanted by the castle and the landscape, and immortalized many of the guests, too. We cannot identify his models on the basis 239. Czóbel is painting in the Hatvany castle, 1930S. Private collection BÉLA CZÓBEL’S MATURE PERIOD, 1925-1976 151