Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Mimi Kratochwill: Béla Czóbel's mature period, 1925-1976
310. Czóbel with Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac at Cosmos Café in Paris in 1973. The author’s photograph being happy to loan their works for the exhibition. The preparations for the exhibition were also carried on in Hungary. Most of the pictures came from Hungarian public and private collections, but also from American, German and Swiss collectors, as well as from several locations in France. The greatest contribution to facilitating this was from the artist himself, since he knew precisely where most of his works could be found. In March 1971, during the preparations for the exhibition, his wife passed away in the hospital on Kútvölgyi street after a protracted, serious illness. The artist bade farewell to her in the hospital on her last day. Both found peace through the hospital visit, which brought to a close a long life together full of love. It is just possible that the excitement of preparing for the exhibition and all the work involved eased the painful goodbye and his grief. The show opened on 3 April 1971 on a beautiful, sunny spring day. Neither the hall nor the entrance hall could accommodate the huge numbers who came to the opening, but everybody waited patiently in front of the museum to get in so they could finally see Czóbel’s retrospective exhibition. The show was attended by foreign guests, Hungarian art collectors, official personages, friends and models. The artist himself was surprised upon seeing his old pictures again and the effect they created displayed alongside the new compositions. For the whole duration of the exhibition visitors streamed into Műcsarnok almost like pilgrims. Unprecedented numbers of studies, articles and illustrated reports were published. Czóbel cherished the memory of this show until the end of his life. In the meanwhile, he received permission to move down from the second floor of the studio on Kelenhegy street - since there was no elevator in the building and the artist had difficulty in walking - to the vacated studio flat on the ground floor, which was more accessible. The door of this ground floor studio opened onto the garden and so he would often go out to paint, take the air and wait for his models to arrive. luat АЛгт* fie» QUoCc-ITUs 311. Segonzac’s photograph dedicated to Czóbel. Private collection BÉLA CZOBEL'S MATURE PERIOD, 1925-1976 189
