Barki Gergely et al.: Czóbel. A French Hungarian painter - ArtMill publications 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Gergely Barki: Czóbel from Paris to Paris 1903-1925
119. Béla Czóbel: Studio Interior, around 1922. Private collection 99 Kállai 1934, p 22. 100 Kállai 1934, p 23. 101 It was presumably exhibited in 1922 in the “November-gruppe” section of the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung (Akademie der Künste) under the title Untergrundbahn. According to the label on the canvas stretcher, the picture was sold by the F. W. Brass Kunstgewerkler company (operating in Hagen, Westphalia), which specialized exclusively in German Expressionists. a reproduction, Ernő Kállai wrote the following: “He has painted the busiest section of the Hochbahn, superlative in its technical construction and inner workings.”99 This was, however, mentioned to point out to the fact that Czóbel, despite all this, cared neither for structure nor for dynamics. Unquestionably one of his principle works is a sizeable canvas entitled Berlin Street (Plate 117) from the 1920s, probably also prepared in the neighbourhood of the Anhalter Bahnhof. This composition resembles the Parisian marketplace series, because we see a view of the bustling corner of the city. Contradicting Kállai in a way, the Berlin painting’s ‘picture cropping’ with its diagonals and bold vertical divisions operates with a rather atavistic and childishly naive process of composition - which would become a pillar of his Berlin period’s decorative Expressionism, which is constructive and structure-loosening at the same time. If Czóbel ever was connected to Expressionism, it was through this primitivist attitude, which sought its roots in antiquity. He showed “no traces of the overstressed nerves or the overtaxed imagination of Expressionism”.100 The Berlin Street with Bridge (Plate 118) is a variant of the urban landscape theme. Lacking any dynamic pulsation, it accentuates structure, while dissolving it at the same time. This painting was so far unknown even within the specialist professional circles. This is the first time it is to be shown to the national audience.101 84 CZÓBEL, A FRENCH HUNGARIAN PAINTER
