Horváth János: Kunffy Lajos, 1993

CIGÁNYOK, 1911 Rippl-Rónai during his „black period." In those days these two artists from Kaposvár often got together. Kunffy came home to his father's estate in Varga in the summer of 1899 and he immersed himself in the life of the little village and painted its inhabitants. His palette became increasingly more colorful and lighter. Kunffy took up residence in Budapest in 1900 because he liked the effervescent artistic atmosphere of the capital city. It was at this time that Albert Berzeviczy addressed Parliament and harshly attacked the new artistic directions underway. Kunffy responded by publishing his „reflections" in the Műcsarnok art magazine. He defended, with sharp logic, the freedom of modern art as a reflection of the general contemporary spirit. „The art of every epoch is exoctly os it deserves... There could be mistokes in contemporary art, but they will find their roots in society. Among the elements of our society. it is precisely the artistic group which does not deny itself and fights with courage for the truth... " This writing of his, which we offer just two brief excerpts of, could have been the guidelines for rejuvenating artistic life at the beginning of this century. We see at age 31, Kunffy was commanded by high ideals. In 1901 he married the beautiful and cultured Ella Tiller. After their wedding trip to Italy, they settled down in Paris, Here their son was born in 1902. His paintings were well received at the Salon d'Automne and this organization admitted him as a nonjudging member, He found success in cultural diplomacy as well. The French acknowledged his efforts by awarding him the Legion of Honor. Meanwhile the Hungarian Association of Fine Arts in Budapest commissioned him to organize an exhibition of contemporary American and French paintings. Kunffy painted his best pictures during the summers he spent at his home in Hungary. The more than three thousand acres of the estate of Somogytur were given to him by his father in 1905. His grandfather, who was born in Tata, bought the noble manor house standing on the estate from the Bosnyák family. The house exemplifies the traditional country architecture favored by the nobility. The open area with the columns was „faithful to its original style, added by the painter, In the beginning the care and management of the estates was guided by his younger brother, Karoly, who earned his outstanding agricultural expertise and diploma at Halle (Germany) and successfully expanded all the Kunffy estates, The artist discovered at Somogytur the long-haired, darkcomplexioned, colorfully clad Gypsies who revitalized his pictorial world. Kunffy's paintings of the Gypsies brought him immense popularity in Paris.