Passuth Krisztina – Szücs György – Gosztonyi Ferenc szerk.: Hungarian Fauves from Paris to Nagybánya 1904–1914 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2006/1)

FROM PARIS TO NAGYBÁNYA - PARIS - KRISZTINA PASSUTH: The Poor Patron of Fauve Painting: Berthe Weill and her Gallery

Unknown painter: Portrait of Berthe Weill Photo of Pablo Picasso from 1904. Archive photograph Unknown painter (Pablo Picasso?): Portrait of Berthe Weill Naturally, the financial burden associated with the investment was considerably lighter for Vollard, than it was for Miss Weill, who had no initial capital to start with and whose sales figures were never as high. Still, a number of important figures were among Miss Weill's clients, in­cluding Wilhelm Uhde, the highly respected critic and collector of Café Dôme. It was Uhde who paid 100 francs to Weill for her first Dufy. "His companion commented the transaction with the following words: Poor Uhde, now you'll be stuck with this monstrosity for the rest of your life! For surely, no man in his right mind will ever buy it off of you, even for the same price! " 1S We do not know how the Hungarian painters, and Béla Czóbel before all the rest, made contact with Miss Berthe Weill in the first place. It is probable that they got to know her through Matisse, who by 1908 had less need for the poor gallery owner's support and may have recom­mended the Hungarian artist to her. It is equally possible that Béla Czóbel's bold compositions, which were shown in the Salon d'Automne as well as elsewhere, roused Berthe Weill's curiosity. In any case, Czóbel's individual exhibition was opened in Berthe Weill's gallery on March 6, 1908. 16 Considering the extremely meagre opportunities existing for exhibitions, this should be seen as an important develop­ment. In those days not many young artists could boast of such an ac­complishment. The newspaper Népszava brought news of the event to the Hungarian public in advance. 17 However, we can learn a great deal more from György Bölöni's article, which has survived in manuscript form: "Here in Paris, in a shabby little art gallery on top of Montmartre, a young Hungarian painter, Béla Czóbel, had his works exhibited. In stark contrast with the gallery, his compositions were anything but shabby. On the contrary, they flew afar from the pocket-size boutique that offered the works such a colourful asylum. The event was some­thing of a shock to us, because, as we looked around in the rundown premises, we saw that this Hungarian painter is a worthy and promis­ing artist: through his compositions, he was probing into areas where real art began." 18 Berthe Weill herself recalled the exhibition in her book: "Béla Czöbel's [sic!] exhibition in March 1908 had considerable moral success, but that was all. He is strongly influenced by Matisse, in whose academy he is studying, and I consider him extremely talent­ed." 19 When Berthe Weill talked of a purely moral success without any financial reward, she was perhaps not entirely honest. Apparently, it was on this occasion that she sold one of Czóbel's finest compositions, Man with a Straw Hat. 20 (Cat. No. 112) Berthe Weill's gallery remained in business for some time afterwards, by which time other, more prestigious galleries had also been collect­ing modern art works. Béla Czóbel was able to show his works once more in her gallery in March 1909, this time taking part in a group ex­hibition, in the company of artists such as Girieud, Metzinger, Tarkhoff and others. 21 The Fauves as a group no longer existed, of course, and the artists invited to take part in this group exhibition were selected rather randomly. She made no mention of any Hungarian artists in her notes from the next few years up to 1913. However, the organizer had some bitter words to say in connection with the group exhibition held in December 1913. She described the works of the participants, whose list included Suzanne Valadon, André Lhote and Czobel (sic!), as "quelle salade", which was impossible to sell. 22 Apparently, Weill later made the acquaintance of two other Hungarians, Sándor Galimberti and Valéria Dénes. The couple had a joint individual exhibition in her gallery in May 1914. 23 Although we do not know what pictures they exhibited, probably these were either identical or similar to those they had shown in other salons at the time. What we do know is that one of the period's outstanding writers, Apollinaire, who was also an art critic, took notice of them. According the Berthe Weill, Apollinaire was an enthusiastic supporter of her gallery, and it may have been part of the reason that he had high praise for the young couple's work, and most notably for the "heroic propor­tions" of Valéria Dénes's compositions. 24 The history of the Galerie Berthe Weill —and the part the Hungarian painters played in it —obviously constitutes only a small fragment in the system of relations of contemporary art and art dealership. Nevertheless, it can illustrate —despite the gaps in the available infor­mation —how young and completely unknown Hungarian artists were able to have individual exhibitions in Paris; to sell some of their works; and, if they were really lucky, to have such a distinguished person to praise their art as Guillaume Apollinaire.

Next

/
Thumbnails
Contents