Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Mimi Kratochwill: Béla Czóbel's mature period, 1925-1976
and Endre Bálint, even though their art never turned into imitations. Czóbel also had a great influence on Mária Modok, whom he encouraged and inspired to execute more works. From their correspondence we can assume that the painter’s admiration soon turned into warm friendship and then into love. She visited Czóbel in Paris and the artist mirrored her feelings, as seen by what he wrote to her in his postcard: “[...] come, I shall be most happy [...]”. In addition to Paris, Czóbel painted many works on the French coast, although hardly any of them are known to us. In 1939 he returned to Southern France, to Nice, where together with his wife, Isolda, he announced the dissolution of their marriage, in the town where they once married. Anticipating the onset of war, the artist made preparations to return to Hungary. He remained in touch with his first wife as they were strongly bound together by their common studies in Nagybánya (Baia Mare), by the thirty years of marriage and their common child. Those - till now missing - postcards and letters sent under the name of Annemarie Fernbach, presumably by Isolda, to Czóbel to various addresses and are postmarked in Offenbach, where his ex-wife worked at a college, are yet to be studied by research. These letters also provide an account on their daughter, Lisa. The artist kept these letters until the end of his life, and attributed great importance to them. The move from Paris - the global hub of artists, where he had enjoyed major success with his exhibitions and his work had been praised in important articles, studies and publications, where his pictures were preserved in prestigious collections and where he had formed profound, long-lasting close friendships - to a small Hungarian town was motivated by a strong and emotionally driven urge to return home, and came as a drastic change for Czóbel. In 1940, when Czóbel decided to move back to Hungary, he entrusted his Parisian studio to his friends in the hope that he would be able to soon return. He was 57 and after his endless wandering, spending months every summerand winter in different places, he may well have felt the need for a new life in Hungary, in Szentendre, no matter how filled with events the past had been. Indeed, since 1903 he had been only a visitor to his own country. In early April he took a train to Hungary. After his arrival he wrote a letter from Szentendre to his friend, the art collector Ferenc Szántó, and his wife, providing a detailed account of his journey and entrusting them with tasks to complete: “Chére madame et eher monsieur, I shall continue in Hungarian because it’s easier this way. Two weeks today I was still on the train, the journey was not uncomfortable and the customs officers were not severe, and my pockets were searched only on the French border to check if I had any bonds on my person; the customs officer was chatting with me while doing this. In Nagykanizsa I gave the conductor a message to send by telegram, but he merely pocketed the money and the telegram was not sent, so nobody was waiting for me at the railway station. 268. Béla Czóbel: Table Still-life, 1928. Budapest, Artchivum Art Historical Documentation Research Institute 168 CZOBEL, A FRENCH HUNGARIAN PAINTER 267. Béla Czóbel: Still-life (with Fish), 1930s. Kieselbach Gallery
