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

László Jurecskó: Béla Czóbel in Nagybánya

20. Sándor Ziffer: Portrait Sketch (Ervin Körmendi-Frim), around 1906. Private collection

21. Sándor Ziffer: Heads (Béla cCzóbel?), Around 1906. Missing

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22. Sándor Ziffer: I Drew Czóbel, 1906. Missing

should we forget András Mikola’s works, which István Réti claimed representing the Neos’ Cézanne orientation.26This diversity also explains why I consistently use the expression “Neos” in my study. Indeed, at the intersection of these diverse styles and as a result of their effects, I regard these pictures as departures from traditional plein air painting, arising from the sight, but formed according to the painters’ unique methods.

In his very thorough study, Gergely Bárki maintains that Czóbel’s paintings, prepared in 1906 and displayed at the Salon d’Automne, did not yet bear the stylistic marks of Fauvism.27

The so-called “Thorma affair” attests to the acceptance, prestige and a certain respect that Czóbel enjoyed in Nagybánya. As we know only from a letter that Károly Ferenczy wrote to István Réti, János Thorma protested in personal indignation when Béla Iványi-Grünwald was chosen for a committee to represent Nagybánya and they, the long-time residents, were not. Without asking Réti and his company, Thorma convinced Vilmos Perlrott-Csaba to invite Czóbel to substitute teach for him. According to the letter, Thorma inquired after the painter’s answer several times, and the matter came to a close. Probably Ferenczy’s band convinced Thorma to abandon his plan.28

27 Bárki Gergely: “A vaddá vállás evolúciója Czóbel Béla korai portréin [Evolution into a Wild One in Béla Czóbel’s Early Portraits]”. VADAK, pp 201-216. I do not always agree with his statements. After all, what style classification are we to give Painters Outdoors, a painting he prepared in 1906?!

28 Károly Ferenczy’s letter to István Réti, dated A May 1907, from Budapest to Rome. In: Ölel Carolus. Ferenczy Károly levelezése [Hugs, Carolus. Correspondence of Károly Ferenczy]. Judit Boros and Rita Budai-Kiss (eds). Budapest: Hungarian National Gallery, 2011, p 131.

BÉLA CZÓBEL IN NAGYBÁNYA

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