Passuth Krisztina – Szücs György – Gosztonyi Ferenc szerk.: Hungarian Fauves from Paris to Nagybánya 1904–1914 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2006/1)
HUNGARIAN FAUVES CASE STUDIES - GERGELY BARKI: The Evolution of Czóbel's Fauvism in the Mirror of his Early Portraits
14. Unknown Hungarian Painter: Nagybánya Model in Garden, cca. 1906. Cat. No. 137. his models and their faces. On top of that, he is an excellent colourist, who creates bold colour harmonies on the spur of the moment; in addition to being a man of the future, he is also the man of the moment, as he has been able to generate profound interest for his work within a relatively short period." 34 Despite the words of praise, one look at the black-and-white reproductions is sufficient to conclude that neither Czóbel's self-portrait nor the portrait of Dobai Székely presented a substantial shift towards Fauvism. The same conclusion was reached by the critical reviews published in the papers, which went into considerable detail and discussed the colour scheme of the portraits. 35 We have to mention it here that, parallel with the exhibition at the modern Salon des Indépendants, Czóbel also exhibited some of his works at one of the official salons of Paris, in the rather more conservative Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. 36 In addition to a still-life submerged in white, he also showed a portrait study 37 at the latter exhibition. Although we do not know the study, an analysis of the above compositions clearly suggests that Czobel had not become a Fauvist before the spring of 1906. His case was far from being out of the ordinary: Braque, for example, also produced his first truly Fauvist works in 1906. 38 Despite their different temperaments, the two painters in many respects started out in their careers in a very similar manner. Both joined the Fauvist movement slightly later, with a brief phase-delay. Also, they both renounced and destroyed a great many of their early works. 39 Czobel and Braque first met at the spring exhibition of the Salon des Indépendants in 1906, and they continued to be close friends right until Braque's death. 40 15. Béla Czóbel: Man Seated, 1906. Cat. No. 105. Although Czóbel's works were already exhibited in the Fauves' room in the spring of 1906 (if we can believe Braque's recollection, that is 41 ), my hypothesis is that profound changes in his painting began to take place only after this event, i.e. following the 1906 Spring Exhibition. Of course, these changes cannot be accredited to Braque's influence at all. If he did, indeed, take some Fauvist paintings to Nagybánya in the summer of 1906, then —just as we have tried to prove earlier on — these were not likely to be the same as the ones he had sent to the Salon des Indépendants. It was more probable that he produced these compositions already under the influence of the exhibition, sometime during the spring and the summer. Unfortunately, we do
