Horváth János: A Rippl-Rónai Ödön gyűjtemény, 2002

János Horváth THE EII5TOFÍY OF THE COLLECTION! Kaposvár became a well-known town of art history as József Rippl-Rónai 's hometown. The art collection of Rippl-Rónai Museum in Kaposvár is based on an other Rippl-Rónai's donation to found a museum. Therefore the founder became part of Hungarian culture. Ödön, the great painter's brother was an art collector, and before his death in 1921 he donated an important and numerous collection of pictures to Somogy County. The Association of Somogy County Museum founded in 1909 became a state museum from Ödön Rippl-Rónai's private museum, and it was given the name Museum Rippl-Rónai in 1951, four decades later. Rippl-Rónai was a railway officer, fie was the only member of the family who became an admirer of Józsefs ambition, who originally studied to be a dentist. In the second half of the 19th century for the citizens of Kaposvár it was unprecedented to make a living as a painter. For József Rippl senior, the teacher-headmaster, who had won the little town's reputation, it could have been a great social rise if his son had been an academic painter enjoying the authorities' reputation, lie could not understand, why his son had to confont the traditions, and what huge walls his firstborn, well-educated son started to attack.

.. Ödön, the second out of the four sons, outbroke, too, in a more modest way, from the conformity of the little town bourgeois life. He did some paintings, too, but it was not his life for success. His brother aroused his interest in the vital issues of modern art. He wanted to comprehend the new tendencies of art created in France at the end of the 19

th century, in which József took unimportant role. He realised that his brother living abroad but caring for the family so much needs his support. First of all he must have been a spiritual support. He helped his brother in need with money, food. He collected all the letters, photos, articles from the beginning of the career informing about Józsefs studies and exhibitions abroad. He took the framing of the pictures sent from Paris, and then he sent them for exhibitions in Budapest. As a railway officer he could travel free, he was good at how to post fragile paintings. He had to face the sometimes severe criticism on his brother's pictures against the pieces created in the capital of art. He admired József for being so steadfast. They were together in the grief of the initial failures of accepting Rippl-Rónai's art and later they shared the joy of the gradual success. "Dear my Ödön, don't be disheartened because of my art: Dogs have always barked, let them bark all right. Mo quack will make me change my mind, on the contrary: my belief will be stronger that a noble cause can be achieved only honestly, and the aim can only be this: real, great art par excellence..."-said the artist. Similar letters of artistic conscience influenced Ödön, too. He visited to Paris twice. He liked Józsefs puritan and at the same time sophisticated home, the fine surroundings. He tried to follow this taste, too. His brother's example and his edifying letters meant higher education for him. He realised; he wanted to be an art collector. "Ödön, the Stationmaster could tell my life history better than I could: he had been saving any relics about my art published. I wrote to him all my views on art and my career. Life's big issues sometimes depend on small things: the evidence of caring about me have always given me strength, coming of maternal and fraternal love has always stimulated me for newer and newer struggles: ahead, always ahead "wrote the artist in his memoir. Ödön Rippl-Rónai was four years younger than József. He was born in Kaposvár in 1865. Having finished four classes of grammar school he joined the Hungarian Rail in 1883, at 18. His career was typical, starting as railway officer in different villages of Somogy County as a stationmaster, then a rail officer at Fiume. József Rippl-Rónai out of his thirteen years spent in Paris (1887-1900) first returned home when his brother Lajos got married in 1892. Ödön then served at Görgeteg, and he put József up. Later Kéthely and Somodor - Aszaló provided temporal home for the artist. These visits gave birth to paintings, drawings, which were later sold out. Offering these pieces to buyers created a new expertnes5 for Ödön. He was often given paintings from his brother directly. They were hung on the wall and he boasted with them to his friends. The conversations explaining the new ideas in art later became teaching serving the art of anew era, and edifying the spectators. He applied a popular though naive method full of life experience. Aurél Bernáth proud of being able to attend uncle Ödön's sessions at young age, "By the time I got acquainted with him, there was hardly any room in his flat recalled Aurél Bernáth. - Everything was full, the wardrobe, the cupboard, and the drawers. There were special cases for shepherd's crooks. There were special drawers for horny salt cellars, there was the old china set in the cases. 48