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

Jewish origin, was "a welcome member" of the same group.

86 Although Czóbel's monographers have not yet paid sufficient attention to his relations with Basler (in fact, they have paid no attention at all), several sources confirm that the two of them were close friends. Basier regularly mentioned Czóbel's name in his writings, while the Hungarian painter produced several drawings of Basier. Most of these drawings were executed on the terrace of the Café du Dôme, although not in the period that forms the subject of this study. (Figs. 18, 19, Cat. No. 120) In order to prove that Czobel also produced a painting of Basier around 1906-1907, and that this portrait is in fact Man with a Straw Hat, I have at the moment nothing more than a few lesserknown analogies. In addition to Moïse Kisling's oil painting from 1914 (Fig. 22) and Modigliani's drawing from 1916 (Fig. 21), we have Isaac Grunewalds work, Portrait of Basler (Fig. 20), to demonstrate the physiognomical similarity. I only know a few photographs of Basier, one of which shows him in Modigliani's company (Fig. 17), but unfortunately neither the photos, nor the earlier-mentioned analogies constitute decisive evidence in this case. However, further research may help confirm the hypothesis. Czobel also produced a portrait of another famous art collector, Leo Stein. The drawing, which we only know through references made in various sources, was definitely completed in the period that concerns us. All we know about it now is that it was put on display in 1965 in Duisburg as part of an exhibition on the international group of Avantgarde artists regularly meeting in Café du Dôme.

87 In connection with the drawing, which in 1965 was still in the possession of the artist,

88 it is not known whether it was a study for an oil painting. What we do know is that Czobel, along with several of his fellow Hungarians, was a friend of Leo Stein's. This relationship, which has not been properly researched, promises to be just as interesting a topic for further research, as the frequently mentioned relationship between Czobel and Gertrude Stein.

89 Another unexplored and unsolved mystery concerns Czóbel's relationship with the art collector Jacqueline Marval. (Fig. 27) She was above else a painter, who exhibited her works with the Fauves.

90 We know that her collection included some of Czóbel's works, which escaped the usual fate of most of the early Czóbel compositions, decimation. What we do not know is the current whereabouts of these paintings.

91 Czóbel's only known painting dated from 1907, which has not been listed previously by his monographers, is also in hiding. Female Portrait (Portrait de femme, Fig. 24) was shown to the public at the 1908 Salon des Indépendants, generating massive condemnation among contemporary critics. As one of the greatest scandals of the exhibition, the work was reproduced in numerous American magazines. It first appeared as an illustration to Gelett Burgess' article entitled The Wild Men of Paris

92 Resolved on writing an article about the art movements that sparked off the latest scandal, Burgess interviewed Matisse, eliciting from him a list of the seven painters he considered to be the representatives of the latest developments in art at the time.

93 It is a testimony to Czóbel's recognition by his contemporaries that Matisse included the Hungarian artist's name in his shortlist. The interview probably took place in the spring of 1908.

94 In his article, Burgess included a description of Czóbel's works he had seen at the Salon des Indépendants, along with his studio and the compositions found there, and also the quirks of his behaviour. Researchers often quote Burgess' article, while failing to mention the reproductions of two unknown paintings by Czobel, which accompanied the article, one of then being the arcady mentioned Female Portrait. As for the other one, it was a highly expressive, multi-figural composition, which amounted to something of a sensation in Czóbel's oeuvre (Le Moulin de la Galette, Fig. 26). The anthologies on Fauvism usually reproduce the text almost fully, but the section about Czobel is invariably left out. Burgess' report, along with the female portrait accompanying it, has interest for us not only because it has helped us identify another early painting by Czobel, one that made quite a stir in the modern salons of Paris at the time, but also because the work in question is reliably dated as a 1907 composition and as such, it is unique within Czóbel's oeuvre. In all probability, the female portrait depicts his wife, the painter Isolde Daig,

95 whose features we only know from another portrait made nearly twenty years later.

96 Although the black-and-white reproduction would not allow a careful analysis of style, on comparing it to Czóbel's other paintings believed to be dated from 1907 (Boys Seated, Courtyard in Nyergesújfalu, Cat. Nos. 110, 111), the differences are obvious. This, together with the fact that the composition was not put on display in the autumn of 1907, leads us to conclude that it must have been made at the end of the year. Although the thick contours continue to play a dominant role in the portrait, the areas within the dark outlines are now filled completely with colour patches of homogeneous tones. The same concept appeared in the compositions of those artists who were already accepted as Fauves. Certain details in Czóbel's portrait closely resemble the style of Sonia Delaunay's portraits produced in the same year, although some analogies also exist with some of the works that Berény, a fellow Hungarian and his good friend, painted in 1907. The storeroom of the Czobel Museum in Szentendre holds a previously unpublished female portrait (Fig. 23, Cat. No. 119), the composition of which bears a striking resemblance to the painting reproduced in Architectural Record. However, the monochrome study executed in blue ink does not allow us to make any guesses about the probable colour scheme Czóbel used for the female portrait he exhibited in the spring of 1908. According to the catalogue of the 1908 Salon des Indépendants, Czóbel also exhibited a male portrait, which Gelett Burgess described as a self-portrait. Similarly to many of Czóbel's early paintings, the whereabouts of this self-portrait is also unknown. We know of no other compositions from Czóbel's Fauvist period. In the autumn of 1908 he was already made conspicuous by his absence at the Salon d'Automne;

97 similarly to most of his fellow-Hungarians, he also stayed away from the exhibitions of the Salon des Indépendants.

98 On the basis of the available documents, it appears that Czobel had, by that time, reached a deep artistic crisis. In concluding the Fauvist period, Michel Puy published an essay in November 1907, in which he claimed that Czobel had reached a state of "deep despondency".

99 The rapid fall of Fauvism obviously disturbed Czobel, while his colleagues' newfound interest in classicization left him untouched. Judging by his later works, we can also see that the artistic concept represented by Cézanne was contrary to his artistic temperament. Since he was likewise confused by the rising popularity of Cubism, it appears that the paths of future development were closed up for him. Being an established painter, however, he was unable to surrender his artistic sovereignty. In an interview he gave in his old age, he recalled