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BERNÁTH, Aurél
BERNÁTH, Aurél
painter, art writer
(13. Nov. 1895, Marcali – 13. March, 1982, Budapest) Between the two world wars the avant-garde was an important but transitory episode in the oeuvre of many Hungarian artists. One of the most talented among them was Aurél Bernáth. He took his first lessons from István Réti and János Tornyai at the Nagybánya artists' colony, and became a mature artist in Berlin in the first half of the twenties. That was where he developed the Expressionist manner in which he constructed stylised Cubist-like shapes and used intensely vigorous colouring. He showed works in this vein at exhibitions at the Sturm Gallery in 1924 and 1925, and they were highly rated by Lajos Kassák, the leading figure in the Hungarian avant-garde, and by the critic Ernõ Kállai. It was when he returned to Hungary in the mid-twenties, however, that Bernáth's personal artistic style took shape, and he synthesised into a bitter lyricism the lessons he had learnt about colour's capacity to move us deeply and his feelings of astonishment at everyday reality. A trip to Italy and first-hand acquaintance with classical art played its part in bringing this synthesis about. From the end of the twenties visions of redemption are increasingly replaced by contemplative still lifes, landscapes and portraits, and here the delicate Impressionist values he had assimilated at the start of his career assume increasing importance from the mid-twenties on. Highly knowledgeable, extremely cultured, discerning and proficient, yet by now with a conservative outlook, he taught as a master at the Academy of Fine Art from 1945. The works of his late period, including his murals, are not noteworthy, with the exception of a few smaller compositions (for instance, his Portrait of Lõrinc Szabó, 1955) and his autobiography, which sparkles with literary merit. (István Genthon: Aurél Bernáth. Budapest 1964. Dénes Pataki: Aurél Bernáth. Budapest 1977 with excerpts in French, German and English
[József Vadas: Hungarian Masterpieces (Vadas József : A magyar festészet remekei), translator: Godfrey Offord, Corvina Publishers, 2004.] One-Man Shows:
1956 • Ernst Museum, Budapest
1962 • XXXI. Biennial of Venice, Venice [among others]
1971 • Rippl-Rónai Museum, Kaposvár (HU)
1972 • Budapest Historical Museum, Budapest
1975 • Academy of Fine Arts, Moscow
1977 • Gallery of Somogy, Kaposvár (HU) • Tihanyi Museum, Tihany (HU)
1985 • Ernst Museum, Budapest
1999 • Festőterem (Studio), Sopron (HU). Works in Public Places:
On the Danube (secco, 1959, Restaurant of the Metropol Motel, Budapest, ruined in 1969-ben)
Thermal Power Station [secco, 1960, Community Centre of the The Power Station, Inota (HU)]
History (fresco, 1967, Archeological Institute – Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest)
Workers’ State (secco, 1970, Headquarters of MSZMP, Budapest)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tragedy of Man (freco, secco, 1973, Erkel Theatre, Budapest)
Panno [1974, Wedding Hall, Kaposvár (HU)].
Works in Public Collections:
~ Memorial Museum, Marcali (HU)
Municipal Picture Gallery, Budapest
G. d'Arte Moderna, Venice
Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs (HU)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Rippl-Rónai Museum, Kaposvár (HU)
Slovak National Gallery, Pozsony/Bratislava. Bibliography:
Genthon, I.: ~, Mûvészettörténeti Értesítõ, 1957/1-10.
Genthon, I.: ~, Acta Historiae Academiae Scientiarium, 1958
Molnár, Zs.: ~ csendéletei, Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Közleményei, 1959
Genthon, I.: ~, Budapest, 1964
Pa-Taky, D.: ~, Budapest, 1972
Dávid, K.: ~ két falképe. Munkásállam, Történelem, Budapest, 1973.
painter, art writer
(13. Nov. 1895, Marcali – 13. March, 1982, Budapest) Between the two world wars the avant-garde was an important but transitory episode in the oeuvre of many Hungarian artists. One of the most talented among them was Aurél Bernáth. He took his first lessons from István Réti and János Tornyai at the Nagybánya artists' colony, and became a mature artist in Berlin in the first half of the twenties. That was where he developed the Expressionist manner in which he constructed stylised Cubist-like shapes and used intensely vigorous colouring. He showed works in this vein at exhibitions at the Sturm Gallery in 1924 and 1925, and they were highly rated by Lajos Kassák, the leading figure in the Hungarian avant-garde, and by the critic Ernõ Kállai. It was when he returned to Hungary in the mid-twenties, however, that Bernáth's personal artistic style took shape, and he synthesised into a bitter lyricism the lessons he had learnt about colour's capacity to move us deeply and his feelings of astonishment at everyday reality. A trip to Italy and first-hand acquaintance with classical art played its part in bringing this synthesis about. From the end of the twenties visions of redemption are increasingly replaced by contemplative still lifes, landscapes and portraits, and here the delicate Impressionist values he had assimilated at the start of his career assume increasing importance from the mid-twenties on. Highly knowledgeable, extremely cultured, discerning and proficient, yet by now with a conservative outlook, he taught as a master at the Academy of Fine Art from 1945. The works of his late period, including his murals, are not noteworthy, with the exception of a few smaller compositions (for instance, his Portrait of Lõrinc Szabó, 1955) and his autobiography, which sparkles with literary merit. (István Genthon: Aurél Bernáth. Budapest 1964. Dénes Pataki: Aurél Bernáth. Budapest 1977 with excerpts in French, German and English
[József Vadas: Hungarian Masterpieces (Vadas József : A magyar festészet remekei), translator: Godfrey Offord, Corvina Publishers, 2004.] One-Man Shows:
1956 • Ernst Museum, Budapest
1962 • XXXI. Biennial of Venice, Venice [among others]
1971 • Rippl-Rónai Museum, Kaposvár (HU)
1972 • Budapest Historical Museum, Budapest
1975 • Academy of Fine Arts, Moscow
1977 • Gallery of Somogy, Kaposvár (HU) • Tihanyi Museum, Tihany (HU)
1985 • Ernst Museum, Budapest
1999 • Festőterem (Studio), Sopron (HU). Works in Public Places:
On the Danube (secco, 1959, Restaurant of the Metropol Motel, Budapest, ruined in 1969-ben)
Thermal Power Station [secco, 1960, Community Centre of the The Power Station, Inota (HU)]
History (fresco, 1967, Archeological Institute – Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest)
Workers’ State (secco, 1970, Headquarters of MSZMP, Budapest)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tragedy of Man (freco, secco, 1973, Erkel Theatre, Budapest)
Panno [1974, Wedding Hall, Kaposvár (HU)].
Works in Public Collections:
~ Memorial Museum, Marcali (HU)
Municipal Picture Gallery, Budapest
G. d'Arte Moderna, Venice
Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs (HU)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Rippl-Rónai Museum, Kaposvár (HU)
Slovak National Gallery, Pozsony/Bratislava. Bibliography:
Genthon, I.: ~, Mûvészettörténeti Értesítõ, 1957/1-10.
Genthon, I.: ~, Acta Historiae Academiae Scientiarium, 1958
Molnár, Zs.: ~ csendéletei, Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Közleményei, 1959
Genthon, I.: ~, Budapest, 1964
Pa-Taky, D.: ~, Budapest, 1972
Dávid, K.: ~ két falképe. Munkásállam, Történelem, Budapest, 1973.
