Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)

Mimi Kratochwill: Béla Czóbel's mature period, 1925-1976

324. The painter, Jenő Barcsay is laying flowers at Czóbel’s statue, 1977. The author’s photograph

in the elegant exhibition halls were pictures Czóbel himself owned or were selected from state collections, but many of them were donated to the museum. The artist received the hosts of congratulations sitting down and after this continued to follow the activities of the museum, often visiting, reading the guest book and waiting for visitors.

He never gave up painting and often mentioned that he would only like to live as long as he could work. He was treated several times for shorter and longer periods not only because of ever growing walking difficulties but also for bleeding of the stomach. He was overjoyed when the French Embassy in Budapest informed him that he had been recommended for the Academy of Palms Award in Paris. He felt that this honour would be an appreciation and recognition of all his work so far. However, this was not to be. After a short period of hospital treatment he died on 29 January 1976.

We regarded his death as a tragedy and had not expected it as after many other occasions when he was treated in hospital he always continued his painting with renewed vigour. He was bidden farewell as a truly great artist and an outstanding figure of European art. At this time it may not have been public knowledge what his work meant in the history of twentieth-century art from the very beginning of the century.

His funeral took place on 11 February 1976 in Budapest’s Farkasréti cemetery.17 His and his wife’s grave is marked by a white marble tombstone, commissioned by Czóbel himself, made by sculptor Ádám Farkas. In 1976 the Czóbel Museum in Szentendre received 85,941(1) visitors.

17 He was buried next to his wife in grave 39-40 of row No. 1, plot l/A.

BELA CZOBEL’S MATURE PERIOD, 1925-1976

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