Nagy Ildikó szerk.: Nagybánya művészete, Kiállítás a nagybányai művésztelep alapításának 100. évfordulója alkalmából (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 1996/1)
Szabadi Judit: Ferenczy Károly pályaképe
His way of expression also changed: the paintings which had previously been basking in sunshine or been veiled in mystical-enigmatic obscurity, while always being rich in details, were now superseded by a summarizing vision, which, by avoiding all eventualities, was suitable for organizing the forms into decorative pictorial arrangements. Engrossed in the pursuit of "pure painterliness," Ferenczy produced his series of artistic still-lifes (Porcelain Parrots, Flowers in Green Vase, Pineapple). His Self Portrait, Béni Bearded, Double Portrait and especially his Triple Portrait show the characteristics of stylizing and decorative composition without ever dismissing or trivializing their psychological contents. Triple Portrait, painted in 1911, was the artistic high point of his last period. In addition to being the crystallization of Ferenczy's summarizing way of vision, it is more or less the synthesis of his entire oeuvre. In this painting the artist has managed to strike a perfect balance between the two original tendencies of his art: the representation of reality with the fullness of life, and the transubstantiation of this reality in the direction of spirituálisadon or aestheticism. His interest was always hovering over the sensual sight of reality on the one hand and the invisible secrets of human existence on the other, rather than forcing him to commit himself to either one, as would have been the case with an average painter. With regard to his interest and his artistic expression, Károly Ferenczy preserved, and even harmonized, both impulses throughout his career, stubbornly maintaining the idea of the wholeness of the world and its representability. That this was in fact a lonely journey has to this day obscured by his close association with Nagybánya. His Nagybánya period more or less coincided with the time when his art was at its prime; not only did he live in the community, but he was its spiritual catalyst. His colleagues regarded him as their master, without realizing that the model he offered could not be followed - if for no other reason than his ability to inhabit several traditions simultaneously and the exceptional dimensions of his talent. And while the various periods, stylistic movements and ideologies deceived themselves by believing that his art could be enlisted for their own cause, Károly Ferenczy is awaiting "resurrection" in the esoteric and almost unnoticed solitude of artistic prodigies.
