Horváth János: Kunffy Lajos, 1993

influence of Benjamin Constant and Paul Laurens. Ever since then, for fifteen years, he has been exhibiting his art in the Société des Beaux-Arts and what the young Hungarian master offers for the judgment of Parisian art experts is the fruit of his prolific work: A beautiful and vibrantly diversified exhibition, in which there is nothing banal, nothing superficial and which has arrived exactly in its own proper time, The boulevards of Paris, may they be ever so attractive, did not divert Kunffy from his personal art." In the feverish whirl of Parisian life, he retained his calm, that melancholy character which is typical of the Hungarian nature, and most of all, he never lost sight of his hormeiand. After all, this is the decisive attraction of his interesting artistic manifestation, the validation of his surprising artistic personality, resulting in an enduring artistic quest, which never ceases to deepen and grow. Through all of this the artist remains an alert and sympathetic observer, whether painting with enthusiasm and honesty his landscapes or depicting his picturesque and typical Gypsies. „Without attempting to follow his works with superficial commentary, it is wise to restrict ourselves to the obser/ation that influences on the various stages of Lajos KuntJy's career are many, whether they be from travels or from the beautiful shores of Lake Balaton; wherever they originated, in all of them a deep emotion seeps through in which there quivers something of the Hungarian soul." The newspapers reported favorably about this exhibit. Kunffy became a well-known figure of the Parisian artistic life. Нэ became a friend of outstanding artists such as Aman Jean, Dagnan Bouveret, La Touche, Paul Albert Besncird and Leon Lhermitte. He gave soirées at his home where his wife and Emil Sauer played piano concerts. It was never his intention to sever all connections with Paris, He returned home after an artistically important trip to Tunis. He furnished a home in the grand manner on the Ferenc József Quai in Budapest. At his country estate he also intensified his involvement. He mechanized agricultural activities on his lands, created fish hatcheries, propagated vineyards and bred outstanding livestock. His artistic efforts were concentrated on depicting holidays, the intimate scenes of daily life and the exhausting work of the people of Somogy; he was equally inspired by the surrounding landscape of the village. His attraction to naturalism yielded many successes in portrait paintings. With increasing frequency he also painted self-portraits. Impressionistic pointillism appears only in sketches and studies. Of these the most outstanding are the sketches of Tunis and the series entitled „The Proclamation of the Republic" in 1918. Following the outbreak of the First World War and for ten years afterwards, his paintings and personal belongings remained in Paris. Then in 1924 he organized the introductory exhibition at the National Salon in Budapest and there showed his pictures that had been stored in Paris as well as some more recent paintings. The imposingly large yet highly selective material, consisting of 300 canvasses, made the expected successful impression. The press wrote of Kunffy with great deference and eminent critics like Karoly Lyke, Dezso Rozsaffy and Arthur Elek praised him. The Association of Fine Arts elected him vice president. In 1925 he received the prize for pastel drawing and in 1926 he was awarded the genre prize for Harvesters (1921). These successes spurred him on to a new large project. In 1926 he painted a triptych, Life of a Farming Family. The realism of this series calls to mind the work of those Hungarian