Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Mimi Kratochwill: Béla Czóbel's mature period, 1925-1976
276. BÉLA CZÓBEL: SITTING BOY, 1940S. PÉCS, JANUS PANNONIUS MUSEUM 12 Színház [Theatre], 7 October 1947. 13 For a while the exemption document signed by Valiant Döme Sztójay, Hungarian Royal Prime Minister, protected Hatvany, who lived with Czóbel and his wife as their “gardener”, although everyone in the town knew his identity. (Besides that, Czóbel, who followed a puritan lifestyle, never employed a gardener.) 14 Czóbel’s card to his wife. artists in the halls of the Galerie Beaux-Arts. “Exposition des Artistes Hongrois d’hier et d’aujourd’hui. Peinturessculpteures-photographies. Organisée par le Mouvement pour L’lndépendance Hongroise”.The catalogue’s foreword was written by Bölöni himself. In these years Czóbel worked intensively, with his main model being his wife, Mária. Nude from the Back, Mária by the Fireplace, and Mária in the Armchair aII depict his wife. These works painted with great love and tenderness proved that he had found his love and home in his new life, and he was able to work in a carefree way. During this time he joined the art association named Európai Iskola (European School), which declared the most modern aspirations as its aims, and he participated in its exhibitions until its prohibition in 1948. In 1946 he was also invited to Geneva as a member of the Hungarian art delegation in the company of Béni Ferenczy, Gyula Illyés, Lajos Kassák, Sándor Márai, Pál Pátzay, István Szőnyi, and others. After the privations of the war this trip, which was full of cultural programmes, made a big impression on everybody. In his diary Sándor Márai devoted several lines to their stay in Switzerland, making comparisons between the situation and condition of Hungary and Switzerland during the war. Márai travelled on from Geneva to Italy, while Czóbel set off to Paris for the first time after the war. On the way he met his wife, Mária Modok, and for the first time in six years they again saw their beloved city. He sought out his old studio from which much had been lost, but he was not able to meet all of his friends. He visited Braque and Matisse, and an article written back home in Hungary documents this meeting.12 He also visited his friend, Ferenc Hatvany, who had returned to Paris immediately after the war. Since the time Czóbel and his wife had been able to offer shelter to Hatvany and his daughter in Szentendre in 1944,13 they had only been able to communicate by letter. From their correspondence we know that at this time Hatvany barely did any painting but rather spent his time writing his memoirs. In addition to France, Switzerland was also a home to Hatvany and his family, where he went several times for medical treatment. Their friendship lasted until death, and in their letters they recall with affection their old life and the months and years they spent together. During his long period in Paris Hatvany introduced Czóbel to many art collectors and assisted them in selecting some of Czóbel’s works which he recommended for purchase. To our knowledge, these works are still owned by the families of these collectors and the highly prized pieces of their collections hang from their walls. Czóbel was still in Paris in 1948, when he was among the first to be awarded the Kossuth Prize. He collected the award, for which he felt honoured, upon his return home. In the same year he was invited to Wroclaw to the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace, where he represented Hungary along with other members of the Hungarian delegation (Tibor Déry, Pál Kadosa, Márk Vedres, and others). From his wife’s writings we know,14 that Joliot Curie, Ilya Ehrenburg, Aldous Huxley, Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso were also present at the congress. 172 CZÓBEL, A FRENCH HUNGARIAN PAINTER
