Passuth Krisztina – Szücs György – Gosztonyi Ferenc szerk.: Hungarian Fauves from Paris to Nagybánya 1904–1914 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2006/1)

HUNGARIAN FAUVES CASE STUDIES - GERGELY BARKI: Róbert Berény, the "Apprenti Fauve"

Czóbel. He never became a plagiarist, though; he had a sovereign character and became an autonomous developer of a stylistic trend difficult to define, which emerged in the last phase of Fauvism, on par with his French colleagues. At least this is what the works he made in 1907 seem to confirm. He completed the nude painting last mentioned in early 1907 at 9 Rue Falguière.

22 In one of the sketches made for the oil painting

23 (Fig. 10, Cat. No. 34), in the mirror behind the nude female figure holding a vase, we can clearly see the reflection of the coffered windows of the Paris studio. The motif of the mirror placed on the bed, as seen in the painting, also pops up in other of his paintings, including Woman in Red Dressing Gown (Fig. 13, Cat. No. 8), exhibited at Salon des Indépendants in 1907, which probably featured the same model. Interestingly, István Csók, who visited the exhibition, described Berény as "a pale epigon of Cézanne and Valloton [sic!]" in comparison to the wild Czóbel, regardless of the fact that, with its loud complimentary colours, the painting mentioned last was a far cry from Vallotton's work, speaking about which it was precisely the lack of colours which Csók emphasized: "How clever it is of Monsieur Valloton! His compositions are colourless and correct. They stand out a mile from the cavalcade of colour disharmony!"

24 7 7. Róbert Berény in the summer of 1907. Detail of a family photo Private collection 18. Róbert Berény: Mediterranean Landscape, 1907. Private collection