Rippl-Rónai [antikvár]

Th( . he work of József Rippl-Rónai is among the richest in the history of Htingarian painting; and, of all Hungarian painters, he is the one who has most in common with French art of that period. In the early 19th century, Hungarian painting, which was then experiencing a period of renascencc, sought in Vienna the path to follow. At that time, Vienna was the centre of the Hapsburg empire, a gay, wealthy metropolis by comparison with the Hungarian capital, which was then just arising as the result of the amalgamation of two small towns: Buda and Pest. Not only was the Vienna Academy famous for its professors of painting, but the prosperous middle classes there offered a better market for pictures than the contemporary Hungarian public. Moreover, its proximity was also bound to attract the rising generation of Hungarian artists, most of whom spent their years of training in Vienna, and often made it their permanent home. For the jEfty years from 1800 to 1850 Vienna was the Mecca of most Hungarian artists. But later, Munich, with its gay life and excellent art schools, began to take its place and Hungarian artists flocked to the Bavarian capital. None of them was yet aware that, since the romantic school had established its position, leadership has already passed for a long period to a third town: Paris. The Munich artists continued to struggle with their huge academic canvases, not realizing that the caravan of progress had already passed by, leaving them a long way behind. With the advent of Delacroix, there had arisen a fresh breeze in France, blowing away for ever the meticulous, scrupulously designed compositions that used to be the pride of the Munich studios. Nor is this surprizing, for romantic painting was born of the French spirit, and it was useless to look for its nervous passion, its dynamic vitality and brilliant, sombrely flashing tones in these German canvases. The first Hungarian artist to divine where the focus of the new art was to be found, was Viktor Madarász (1830—1917). Like so many of his fellow artists, he had begun his studies in Vienna, but as early as 1856, he had moved to Paris and made it his headquarters. He was attracted by the impressive historical paintings of Paul De la Roche, which were then meeting with great success. His sober, dramatic style, maintaining a cautious middle road between classicism and romanticism, impressed Madarász more than the work of Delacroix, who was at that time reaching the summit of his career. Though Madarász