Nagy Ildikó szerk.: Rippl-Rónai József gyűjteményes kiállítása (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 1998/1)

TANULMÁNYOK / ESSAYS - BERNÁTH Mária: Egy közép-európai modell. Hatás és asszimiláció Rippl-Rónai József festői munkásságában

scapes painted in these three months, one perceives significant changes in each and every one (plate 10). These changes may also be interpreted as the first wing-beats of subsequent stylistic phases, and indeed he himself saw them as such. In his Memoirs, he analyzes this intermezzo in his painting career with great clarity: "[in Banyuls] 1 soon came to see everything as colourful, but not yet 'sun-drenched'. Here, I painted pictures whose religiously simple, but at the same time colourful, motifs provided a natural transition from the 'black' series to the light-filled, or rather, the harshly colourful ones. The intense blue of the sea jolted me out of my earlier intentions. That was the turning point; from this time I date my current conviction ... that the force of colours must be enhanced."

53 At this crossroads, among these somewhat monotonously similar pictures ("He worked with marvellous ease ... too quickly and too much..."

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) a masterpiece stands out, namely the Portrait of Aristide Maillot (cat. no. 56.). In 1910 Lajos Fülep claimed Rippl-Rónai had no facility for "the more synthesizing tasks" of art;

54 but it is perhaps no accident that he emphasized the Maillol portrait as the exception that proved his point. A synthesizing work was achieved in this because, as he explained, notwithstanding the conspicuous primacy of the image, the discipline of form-creation could assert itself. In this work, the rigour of the organizing principle can be felt: the artist has not yielded to the selected motive, but holds it in a firm grip and controls it. When the work on Andrássy's dining-room was drawing to a close, Rippl's longing to return home for good became more intense: "I'd like to be at home and to take up my abode there, but there is no one to encourage me," he wrote to László Mednyánszky.

56 Remarks addressed to his brother Ödön are more bitter: "... I have never been so uncertain about the future as now - everything goes awry," and he commits to paper his dream, soon to be realized both physically and artistically: "My ideal is... [to have] nothing but an intimate home."

57 As early as December 1900 his major exhibition opened in the Royal Hotel in Budapest and from then on he only paid occasional visits to Paris. His permanent return to Hungary dates from February 1901. He settled with his brother Ödön,

58 a railway employee at Somogyaszaló, one of the smallest of the tiny Somogy villages. Yet, no sooner had he moved in than he was assailed by the oppressive pettiness of an Hungarian village at the turn of the century. He could not control his restlessness and by the summer he was already in Belgium, where he painted his pastel, A relative ofCléo de Merode. This was a subtly drawn and sensually enticing female portrait reminiscent of his best Paris period and anticipating the future in its colours. (Cat. no. 45.) There was one more attempt to escape. In December 1901 he decided to resettle in Russia,

59 because "the Moscow people surpass even their Parisian counterparts, although art patronage is more abundant in Paris."

60 However, he managed to endure Moscow for precisely two weeks before returning "post-haste".

61 At home, he bought his first house in Kaposvár and gave up his world-conquering plans for good. It was an indication of his submission to a more settled way of life that he now embarked upon the most harmonious creative period of his career. THE INTERIORS "My ideal is ... nothing but an intimate home" It is notable that although Rippl was not much interested in theory, he tried to formulate a new ars poetica two or three years after returning home from Paris. Evidently he was trying to find some acceptable ideology to explain the concessions he was forced to make in order to be successful at home. He had a keen enough artistic judgment to see that his new style was, in a certain sense, a step backwards. The concessions he made in the interests of being better understood were necessary because he had no chance of artistic survival beyond his native surroundings. Although he had always regarded his work as comparable only to that produced in Western Europe, he was now obliged to justify himself in terms of local taste. Proof of this may be seen in both his "black" period before, and "kukoricás" [lit. "maize-like"] period after, the interiors. After 1906, when he had become acknowledged and applauded at home, he could once again afford largely to ignore the expectations of the public and look again to Paris. The production of his new period from 1902, after his resettlement in his native Kaposvár, is highly indicative and may be summarized in figures: no interior is known by him from 1900, but an increasing number can be cited year by year thereafter, till a record number of 45 are produced in 1906, marking the end of this period.

62 It is worth looking more closely at the new ars poetica formulated in 1903 and 1904: "...a person devoted to art should first and foremost be international; as such, he is eo ipso national as well. Where he finds inspiration is then a matter of individual disposition... in our view, the primary task is to look for artistic solutions."

63 "The more talented went to Paris, and it can now be stated that it is they who have made the style of today... How could one conceive of all this differently without traditions? National art can only be expected to evolve after that."

64 Although Rippl speaks in general terms, there is no doubt that he is referring here to himself. The key word is "national art". In his period of interiors, Rippl-Rónai experimented boldly with his assimilations, only restrained by his commitment to modern art and by his unerring good taste. In my view, this period with its crop of interiors is epochmaking in the art of Hungary, having great influence on its subsequent development. Rippl must have realized that, if he should make his debut in Hungary with his Paris style - that is, with those lean, black, oversublimated works - his appeal would be limited by what would be regarded as a bizarre and alien quality, and he would not be accepted. This uneasy feeling of extra-territoriality, together with the struggles of the past fifteen years must have done much to deplete his energies. The pictures of the interior period suggest a Rippl-Rónai who had broken off his fight