Exhibited:
The 'Nyolcak' and the Activist Circle. Székesfehérvár, István Király Múzeum, 1965.
Wystava Osmy a Aktivistu Madarské Revolucni Umeni 1909-1926. Praha, Bratislava, 1976.
L'Art en Hongrie 1905-1930. Art et Révolution. Saint-Etienne, Musée d'Art et d'Industrie, 1980.
The Hungarian Avantgarde, The Eight and the Activists. London, Hayward Gallery; Rome, Palazzo Barberini; Genova, Teatro del Falcone; Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville; 1980.
The Eight and Activists. Hungarian National Gallery and Janus Pannonius Múzeum, 1981.
Ödön Márffy Exhinition. Vigadó Gallery, 1984.
Ödön Márffy Retrospective Exhibition. Művészetek Háza, Szekszárd, Hevesi Művelődési Központ, Nagykanizsa, 1985.
Reproduced:
Passuth, Krisztina: Márffy Ödön. Budapest, 1978. (Pict.1.)
Provenance:
Mrs. Ödön Márffy Art Foundation;
American Private Collection
The masterpieces of Hungarian painting that fit into the main trends of contemporary European art history both in style and quality emerged into collectors' notice only in the last few years. Rippl-Rónai's work has been exhibited together with the Nabis' pictures in the museums of Western-Europe and America for years. Today his art is treated as equal with that of Denis, Vuillart and Maillol. The most important teaching of the greatest exhibitions of the last decade is that in the first half of the 20th century the progressive Hungarian painters were able to get into synch with the European modernist trends. In 1999 the exhibition Le Fauvisme ou l'épreuve du feu in the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris the works of the Hungarian painters were presented in the company of Matisse's, Derain's and the others' works. The organisers of the exhibition rejected the traditional approach that defined the Fauves as a typically French group. Though the study on Hungarian art in the catalogue concentrated on the works of the Nagybánya school, Márffy's picture under discussion could also be a piece of the exhibition. The stylistic characteristics of the picture, its quality and creativity free from all inhibitions make the painting a valuable piece of not only Hungarian but also European painting art. It is one of Márffy's earliest Fauve-pictures; the secondary literature dates it to 1906, the time of his return from France.
Márffy's early carrier was influenced by two important factors: Rippl-Rónai's and the Fauves' art. His oeuvre perfectly illustrates how Paris-centered Hungarian painting of that time was. Márffy studied at the Julien Academy, then later at the École des Beaux Arts. However, the influences he gained outside the walls of school were just as important: he learned Van Gogh's, Matisse's and Cezanne's art. In Paris he also met Béla Czóbel and Endre Ady. In 1906 he presented his pictures at the exhibition of the Salon d'Automne. Despite the success in 1907 he returned to Hungary. Some months later Rippl-Rónai, who noticed the young painter's art at an exhibition held together with Lajos Gulácsy, offered him a studio. Márffy got known to Károly Kernstok, too, and spent his summers with him and the members of the group Nyolcak in Nyergesújfalu. The picture under discussion was presumably made there as well. The picture bears the traces of the fresh impulses Márffy gained in Paris. Typical stylistic elements of the Fauvism are combined with the painter's vivid, light artistic character. The decorative, synthetic view, the bright, clean colorit and the conscious deforming, that gives the picture an intensive expressiveness, all evoke the Fauves' creative methods. The bright colors lightening on the girl's face make the viewer remember Jawlensky's, Kees van Dongen's and Matisse's pictures. The cardboard showing at the great stains is also a daring gestures which is a characteristic of the Fauves' works but can be found in Czóbel's and Ziffer's pictures as well. The application of the figure, which fills out almost the whole picture-plane and is represented from a close standpoint, evokes Matisse's works. The figure of the girl is circled by a light contour, the great stains are modelled by raw, energetic, rhythmical brushstrokes. What makes Márffy's work an exceptional, individual work is the fineness of the application of the colorit without any boundaries and the calligraphic beauty of the brushstrokes free from any restraints. The lines running on the surface of the smooth cardboard do not only carry dynamism among the colors but they also serve as a personal sign of a creative condition free from any inhibitions. In Márffy's picture an abandoned, clean creative freedom is revealed which is unique; the painter got exceptionally close to par excellence painting with this work.
Molnos, Péter