Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
László Jurecskó: Béla Czóbel in Nagybánya
17. Ferenc Lehel, around 1910. Private collection 18. Czóbel’s painting entitled Ferenc Lehel in Nagybánya with its owner at the time, in the 1960S. Private collection of the pose is the bold focus and the streaky painting style employed while modelling the clothing. The latter completely dominates the oddly arranged picture entitled Ferenc Lehel In Nagybánya. The use of the chosen painting method is not merely a question of technique, but allows him to distance himself from a treatment of paint that is too heavy and greasy. In this picture, the colour of the base canvas shines through in places (Plate 16), which we may also experience in the picture entitled Slovak Man with Hat (Plate 9) painted in the same year. The name of his painter friend can only be known from the title. His model, standing on Goose Field [Libamező] in the foreground, towers above the natural motifs in the middle distance. In his proportions, he is of equal status with the background buildings: the Calvinist church, the Stephen tower and the Catholic church. Thanks to the arrangement, no single element dominates the picture. Thus, the figure facing away loses his individuality. The picture is no longer about a painter friend, but a state of mind; and precisely because of its anonymity, it can be taken as Czóbel’s ars poetica in Nagybánya. Perhaps it is no exaggeration to regard this picture as a farewell to the possibilities he derived from plein air painting during his residence in Nagybánya. The painter who returned to Nagybánya in 1906 was already a different man. He did not want to be a pupil, but a guide promoting advancements. Gergely Barki’s study treats his painting accomplishments from those years. I only wish to deal with the later assessment of his few months spent at the colony. As I presented in detail in my monograph on Tibor Boromisza’s early work,22 Réti’s articles from 1909, his study in the 1912 catalogue and the Nagybánya book all offer different evaluations of Czóbel’s role in the developing Neo movement. At first, he mentions other artists arriving from Paris besides Czóbel; then, Czóbel’s role is increasingly emphasized. With this he seeks to prove that the new painting style is an import with no qualities rooted in Nagybánya. He considers its representatives either followers or imitators of Czóbel. In my opinion, Czóbel played a catalyzing role in terms of the movement’s development; however, the example he set for the others was inimitable. When analyzing the Parisian effect, we must look over the list of Nagybánya painters who attended the Julian, the Colarossi or the official academy. Their number is significant, indeed. Besides Czóbel, Dezső Czigány, Sándor Galimberti, Rezső Kiss, András Mikola, Vilmos Perlrott- Csaba, Attila Sassy (Aiglon) and Tibor Boromisza studied at the Julian, and all of them were pupils of Jean-Paul Laurens. Judit Boros writes in her doctoral dissertation the following: “From the sources at our disposal it appears that the painting students frequenting classes at the Julian primarily strove to master the technical aspects of painting. The combined effect of the exhibitions, diverse events and encounters that the French capital had offered them helped to shape their artistic attitudes.”23 In terms of Czóbel and the Neos, the name Ervin Körmendi-Frim is also important. He is mentioned by the Nagybánya press: “to mark the residence of the county superintendent and his wife in Nagybánya, the painting school has organized a picture exhibition in the roadside studio, where some 100 pieces are on display. A few valuable items have been left out, because the masters Béla Czóbel and Ervin Frim sent them to Paris for the Autumn Salon exhibition.”24 From fellow painter Ervin Plány’s critique, we get a sense of the year’s events: “The current exhibition testifies 21 The painter later married the female painter who worked in Nagybánya. The child she bore him was to become the world-famous dancer Lisa Czobel. 22 Jurecskó László: Boromisza Tibor [Tibor Boromisza]. Miskolc: Mission- Art Gallery, 1996, pp 23-28. 23 Boros Judit: Magyar festők Párizsban (1880-1896) [Hungarian Painters in Paris (1880-1896)], doctoral dissertation. Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Art History. 24 [n.a.]: “A festömüteremben [In the Painting Studio]”, Nagybánya, 30 August 1906, 4:35, p 4. A NAGYBÁNYAI I, PP 410-411. BÉLA CZÓBEL IN NAGYBÁNYA 25
