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

AT HOME AND ABROAD - KRISZTINA PASSUTH: Wild Beasts of Hungary Meet Fauves in France

Academies and Private Schools The Académie des Beaux Arts of Paris, as an institute of higher education in art, was established in 1795. Quite naturally, its 19th-century traditions survived well into the 20

th century. Its typical masters included Adolphe W. Bouguereau and Benjamin Constant. The method of education was aimed at the gradual development of the pupils' artistic skill according to a set schedule. This basically meant the copying of plaster models, initially in drawing and then in painting, or in small sculpture. This method left very little room for either invention, or for originality on the part of teachers and students alike. However, there were exceptions to this rule at the Academy, too, for example in the person of Gustave Moreau. With all its negative and rarely positive aspects, academic training did not prove equally important to the individual artists. For example, Vlaminck joined the Fauves as an autodidact, but the signs of this "handicap" never showed up in his compositions. On the contrary: it seemed to invest him with a special kind of force and freedom. On the other end of the spectrum was Matisse: he could look back on a particularly long study period, which began already in 1890 and essentially was not over until 1905. Besides, Matisse's example precisely stands to prove that the popular view of the academic training being too outdated and obsolete, as opposed to the private art schools, where the training was thought to be more liberal and modern, not always corresponded with reality. When Matisse first enrolled in L'Académie Julian for the academic year of 1890-1891, it was not a particularly good period: Gauguin's most enthusiastic followers within the group Nabis, such as Paul Sérusier, Maurice Denis, Edouard Vuillard, and Félix Vallotton, had left the institute a year earlier. Therefore, Matisse saw no point in staying there any longer. Without a teacher, or a true master, or fellow artists, he felt he was in a vacuum and, while he did not abandon his studies at the Julian Academy completely, he made a conscious effort to find a real master. So, after repeated attempts, he finally enrolled in the École des Beaux Arts, in other words, the Academy, which in theory was characterized by a much more conservative approach than the allegedly freer private schools were. Still, Matisse discovered his true master at the Academy, in the person of Gustave Moreau. Although he had been regularly visiting his classes since 1893, he officially enrolled only in 1895. Gustave Moreau's influence was not so much accredited to his paintings as to his personality; with slight exaggeration we might even say that he represented an alternative and more open concept of art within the fortress of Academism. His approach appealed to those students, who though that Academism and adventure, or experimenting, should be reconciled. "In this way, a revolutionary centre was established inside the École des Beaux Arts," the contemporary critic Roger Marx wrote. All those who rebelled against the routine, and those who wanted to develop their art in line with their own personality, rallied around Gustave Moreau.

33 At the same time, Moreau's congested and often chaotic compostitions with their antique themes and predominantly grey tonality, were not likely to fire up the unfettered artistic imagination of the future Fauves. The pupils considered Moreau to be more of a master than a teacher: in their eyes, he was a master who was always attentive to their problems and who dedicated a great deal of his time to them. Instead of wanting to "nail" his students to the easel, Moreau urged them to travel and to study abroad. He also encouraged them to copy the works of the old masters. Visiting the Louvre several times a week, he himself was in the habit of copying the masterpieces.

34 More than anything, it was probably the discussions Moreau had with them, along with the commentaries he made about the works of the old masters, which his students benefited the most from. He also analyzed exhibitions for his students. In his opinion, the most important thing for his students was to discover their own personality and find their own voice. Moreau's concept of art was much more modern than his painting. Nevertheless, he deserved the credit for the Fauves' making a start and distancing themselves from everything that was routine and mediocre. At least that was what Louis Vauxcelles, the critic who originally came up with the term "Fauves", claimed in his recollections: in his opinion, Gustave Moreau's method of teaching made the birth of Fauvism possible.

35 To the best of our knowledge, no Hungarian Fauve artist maintained close contact with Moreau in Paris. Partly, because Moreau had already passed away in 1898, and partly because Ödön Márffy was the only Hungarian who attended the École des Beaux Arts: the others either failed to gain admission or never even bothered to apply. Another possibility is that, after the academic training they had received either at home or in Munich, they did not wish to go through it again. Women's workshop at Julian Academy Archive photograph Men's workshop at Julian Academy Archive photograph