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"

Notes 1 Berény Róbert: A kezdeményezés szerepéről [On the Role of Initiation], manuscript, MNG Archives, Inv. No.: 23306/1992/IX.29. 2 Krisztina Passuth introduced the new terminus technicus in the literature a few years ago (Passuth 2000, 380), but the phrase "Hungarian Fauves" had already appeared in some of the contemporary reviews. To my knowledge it was Artúr Bárdos, who first used the expression. Bárdos, Artúr, "Kernstock", Nyugat, 1910, 2. In researching the appearance of the phrase "wild" in the critical writings, Béla Horváth came to the conclusion that it had first been used by a journalist "Be" in Budapesti Hírlap: Be., "Kernstok Károly", Budapesti Hírlap, 25 November 1911. See: Horváth, Béla, Kernstok Károly, Budapest, 1997, 51. 3 Adolphe Basler, Henri Matisse [Junge Kunst-46] Leipzig, Verlag von Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1924; Pariser Begegnungen 1904-1914, without page numbers; Barr 1951, 117, etc. 4 Szíj, Béla, "Berény Róbert festői fejlődése legkorábbi müveitől Bartók Béla portréjáig" [Róbert Berény's Artistic Development from his Earliest works to his Portrait of Bartók], Művészettörténeti Értesítő, 1961, 2-4, 215-223; Szíj, Béla, "Berény Róbert életútja gyermekéveitől a berlini emigrációig" [The Life of Béla Berény from Childhood to his Emigration to Berlin], Bulletin de la Galerie Nationale Hongroise, 1963, 113-124; Szíj, Béla, Berény Róbert, Budapest, 1964; Szíj, Béla, "Róbert Berény", Acta Históriáé Artium, 1966, 155-202; Szíj, Béla, Berény, Budapest, 1981. 5 Berény Róbert kézzel írott önéletrajza [Handwritten autobiography of Róbert Berény], MNG Archives, Inv. No.: 23306/1992/1; see also: Kassák, Lajos, Vallomás tizenöt művészről [Confession about Fifteen Artists], Budapest, 1942, 73-80. 6 In the spring of 1906 he rented a spacious studio at 9, Rue Campagne Premiere. See: Max Weber's letter quoted by Béla Szíj 1963, op. cit. (Note 4), 114-115 and Bölöni, György, "Berény Róbert", Aurora, 15 April 1911, 63. 7 According to the evidence of a caricature drawn in Budapest in May 1906, he had already left the French capital. Reproduced in: Weiner Leó és tanítványai. Emlékeink Weiner Leóról [Leó Weiner and His Pupils. Our Memories about Leó Weiner], ed.: Berlász, Melinda, Budapest, Rózsavölgyi és társa, 2003 (second edition), 131. 8 In his writings about Berény, Béla Szíj incorrectly published the data regarding Rudolf Berény instead of Róbert, and the Salon of the Society of French Artists instead of the Salon d'Automne, see: Szíj, 1963, op. cit. (Note 4), 124; Szíj, 1966, op. cit. (Note 4), 201. Szíj published the following incorrect data: "Catalogue Illustré du Salon de 1906. Le 1 er Mai 1906. 139. Berény (R) Portrait du Marquis Costa de Beauregard. 140. Mme P..., etude." 9 His portrait of his father is in a private collection in Budapest; as for the portrait of the writer, it is at an unknown location and therefore we do not know whom the monogram "FM." refers to. It could equally mean Miksa Fenyő, Milán Füst, Ferenc Molnár, as he was a close friend of all three. 10 h, b.: "Salon d'Automne. Magyar művészek Párizsban" [Salon d'Automne. Hungarian Artists in Paris], Pesti Hírlap, 13 October 1906, 13-14. 11 The style of the unsigned painting from 1906 or thereabout seems to indicate that it could be attributed to Berény. We know that Berény and Bölöni became friends in Paris in that year. Attila Rum called my attention to the probability that the model of this portrait could have been György Bölöni. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for this information. The photographs which were in Bölöni's bequest and are now in the collection of Petőfi Irodalmi Múzeum seem to support this assumption. (Fig. 4) 12 Barki, Gergely, "Róbert Berény: Children in the Garden, 1906", Annales de la Galerie Nationale Hongroise, 2002-2004, 71-72. 13 Inscription in Berény's hand on the back of the painting: "1906. 15. X. Paris". 14 It is difficult to read the date in the signature; it is either 1905 or 1906. The majority of researchers believe that 1906 is the likely date. 151 would like to take this opportunity to thank Jack Flam for telling me about this. The painting La gitane (today Musée de I'Annonciade, Saint Tropez) was on show at the Matisse exhibition at Galerie Druet in 1906. The influence of this painting can be ascertained in this work by Berény. 16 According to the information she wrote on the back of the photograph, Margit Vészi took the photograph in Paris in 1907. We think that 1906 is more likely. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bernadett Kovács and Mária Fodor for calling my attention to this photograph. 17 Desiderius Orban, "Paris in 1906", Quadrant, September 1973, 40-43; Dezső Orbán's letter, once in the collection of Béla Szíj, annotated by Krisztina Passuth: Passuth, Krisztina, Orbán Dezső, Budapest, 1977, 7. 18 Szíj, 1961, op. cit. (Note 4), 216. 19 Szíj, 1964, op. cit. (Note 4), 6. 20 See also: Barki 2004, 462-468, Note 11; and Barki, Gergely, "Berény Róbert: Olasz lány aktja" [Nude of an Italian Girl], in: A modell 2004, 468-470, Note 7. 21 Róbert Berény: Woman in front of a Mirror, oil on cardboard, 105,5 x 72,4 cm, sign top right: Berény 907 Paris, on its back hand-written: "6. 'Femme nue devant une glace' Berény", private collection. In the same year Ervin Körmendi Frim also exhibited at Salon des Indépendants, a picture entitled Femme devant la glace. 22 Presumably Berény intended to show this painting also at the 1907 Salon des Indépendants, but instead he sent in his portrait of Bertalan Pór (Fig. 19). The painter gave to each of his paintings intended for the Salon des Indépendants a serial number which was analogous with the item numbers in the catalogue. About this in more detail see Barki, Gergely, , "Berény Róbert: Olasz lány aktja" [Nude of an Italian Girl], in: A modell 2004, 468-470, Note 1. The painter wrote the number 6 on the back of both paintings from 1907, which are discussed here, but from contemporary reviews we know that he did not exhibit Woman in front of a Mirror, but the one bearing the item number 367 in the catalogue (no. 6 among Berény's works), portrait of Pór, entitled Étude. Berény's address at that time can also be found in this catalogue. See: Dictionnaire des Indépendants 1884-1914, ed.: Dominique Lobstein, Dijon, 2003, 192193; the record of Róbert Berény's membership fee paid to the Salon des Indépendants in: Júlia Cserba, Csaba Kopeczky, Kálmán Makláry, Krisztina Passuth, Alfred Reth 1884-1966, Maklary Artworks, 2003, 334. 23 Róbert Berény: Woman with a Vase, India ink on paper, 310 x 200 mm, not signed, BTM Inv. No. 62.58. 24 István Csók's letter to Lajos Fülep, in: Fülep 1990, 73. 25 Henri Matisse: Madame Matisse assise, 1905, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Inv. No. D.F.161. 26 Robert Berény: Woman Seated, 1907, India ink, brush on paper, 252 x 192 mm, signed bottom left: Paris 1907, bottom right.: RBerény, MNG Inv. No. F.58.16. The motif on the bed cover in the background of Woman in front of a Mirror helped to ascertain the relationship between the two paintings. 27 Róbert Berény: Female Nude with Elbows on Knees, 1907, India ink on paper, 260 x 158 mm, signed bottom left in pencil: RBerény Paris 1907, private collection. 28 Róbert Berény: Nude of the Woman in Red Dressing Gown, 1907, India ink on paper, 323 x 248 mm, not signed, private collection. 29 "Two of the landscapes are from Monaco, but the colours and the whole feeling are Hungarian", in: I. k., "Független művészek kiállítása Párizsban" [Independent Artists' Exhibition in Paris], Pesti Napló, 31 March 1907, 16. 30 Louis Vauxcelles, "Le Salon des Indépendants", Gil Blas, 20 March 1907, without page numbers, reprinted in: Dagen 1994, 107. 31 The literature mentions only one landscape by Bertalan Pór from Venice, in: Oelmacher, Anna, Pór Bertalan emlékkiállítása [Bertalan Pór's Memorial Exhibition], Introduction, Budapest, MNG, 1966, 9. 32 Barki, Gergely, "Berény Róbert: Mediterrán táj, 1907" [Mediterranean Landscape], in: Catalogue of the Spring Auction of the Kieselbach Gallery, 2005, 142. 33 Robert Berény's speech on the occasion of Bertalan Pór's 70'

h birthday. Typed manuscript, corrected in handwriting. MNG Archives, Inv. No.: 23306/1992/IX.22. 34 Anon., "A 70 éves Pór Bertalan" [Bertalan Pór at the Age of 70], Magyar Nemzet, 12 November 1950, 7. 35 Pór also painted several bearded self-portraits in 1907; we know a family photograph, which shows Berény with a beard (Fig. 17). 36 We do not know the original title of the painting; we used this title in order to distinguish it from the numerous other standing female nudes by Berény. 37 Two years ago we only knew four sketches, see: Barki, Gergely, "Berény Róbert: Álló női akt" [Standing Female Nude], in: A modell 2004, 470-471. 38 Passuth 2000, 377-386. 39 Barki, Gergely, "Berény Róbert: Fekvő női akt" [Reclining Female Nude], in: A modell 2004, 471^72. 40 "Il y a plus de simplicité chez Berény [sic!] Malgré d'étranges apparences, sa bizarre petite femme aux jambes boudinées est assez vivante et coloré." Denis, Maurice, "Liberté épuisante et sterile", La Grande Revue, 10 April 1908, reprinted in: Dagen 1994, 157. 41 About this see: Oppler 1976, Chapter VI. The first showing of Berény's Self-portrait In Top Hat in Hungary at the 1911 exhibition of Nyolcak provided an occasion for anti-Semitic attacks in the Conservative daily papers and we also know a caricature, in which the unknown draftsman further exaggerated the Hebraic features accentuated by Berény. 42 "Le portrait est peint, et ce qui est mieux, il est dessiné: la laideur en est expressive." Denis, op. cit. (Note 40) 43 Henri Matisse: Les joueurs de boule, 1908, oil on canvas, 113,5 x 145 cm, signed bottom left: H.M.-08., Ermitage, Saint Petersburg. 44 In a caricature of the 1911 exhibition of Nyolcak (Fig. 36) we can recognize the detail reminiscent of Ball Players, but the movements of the figures are different in the painting. Comparing its dimensions to the other paintings, it appears much larger than the real size of the discussed painting. It may be the case that the caricaturist exaggerated the motion of the figures, but it is also possible that a more monumental version truly existed. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bernadett Kovács for calling my attention to this caricature. 45 About this see: Barki, Gergely, "Berény Róbert: Olasz lány aktja" [Nude of an Italian Girl], in: A modell 2004, 468-470, Note 5. What went on at Matisse's legendary receptions, we do not know exactly. Among other people, András Mikola also visited him in his studio on these occasions and described how he saw the master during work "with an unusually small palette in his hand on which there were but a few colours". Mikola 1972, 48. 46 Although Berény was not a member of MIÉNK, in the summer of 1909 he did join the travelling exhibit of MIÉNK, which György Bölöni organized in Transylvania. Among the paintings shown in Kolozsvár (Cluj), there were the ones painted in Tahitótfalu, of which we learn from the contemporary newspapers. "The rest are Hungarians who emigrated to Paris. One of them is Róbert Berény, the other is Ervin Körmendi-Frim, together with them all the novelty of the Parisian Hungarian quarters, the narrow, destitute boulevards are featured. They vary the themes of Montmartre, Montparnasse, Nagybánya and Tahitótfalu." Kolozsvári Hírlap, 30 May 1909, quoted by Krisztina Passuth in: Passuth 1967, 65. 47 Molnos, Péter, "Berény Róbert: Parkrészlet 1909" [Detail of a Park], in: Catalogue of the Kieselbach Gallery's Fall Auction, 2001, 36-39. 48 Bálint, Aladár, "A 'Nyolcak'", Magyar Nyomdászat, May 1911, 137. 49 There are several hitherto unknown paintings by Berény, which can be seen in the caricatures of the 1911 exhibition of Nyolcak, at the same time the postcard addressed to István Réti is also worthy of our attention. About Berény's paintings featured in the caricature on the back of the postcard see: Barki 2004, Note 34. 50 During the preparations for this exhibition, on the back of Tibor Pólya's painting held in Kecskemét, we found strange sketches resembling caricatures featuring two of Berény's pictures. Tibor Pólya may have seen Composition with Silhouette and Nude of an Italian Girl in Berény's studio or perhaps at the 1911 exhibition of Nyolcak; presumably he attempted to record his impressions in these caricature-like sketches. 51 Róbert Berény's statement in the so-called Tisza-debate, Pesti Napló, 16 April 1911,41. 52 Berény, Robert, "Oesterreichische Künstler", Nyugat, 16 March 1913. 53 See also: Elek, Artúr, "A Nyolczak", Az Újság, 15 November 1912, 18. 54 Among others, László Moholy-Nagy, once his pupil, talked about the nude drawing lessons in Berény's free school. Quoted in: László Péter, "The young years of Moholy Nagy", The New Hungarian Quarterly Fenyő's letter, quoted in: Szíj 1963. op. cit. (Note 4), 120.