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UITZ, Béla
UITZ, Béla [B. V. Martel]
painter, graphic artist
(8 March, 1887, Temes-Mehala – 26 January, 1972, Budapest)
1907: The Royal National School of Applied Arts; 1908-1903: College of Fine Arts; masters: Ede Balló, Károly Ferenczy, Vikotor Olgyai. In 1914 he traveled to Italy on a study tour. 1916: he was an associate and co-editor of the periodical of Kassák entitled MA /Today/. Member of the groups named Fiatalok /Youngsters/ and the Hetek /Seven/. In the summer of 1916 he worked at the Colony of Artists in Kecskemét, in 1919 he was the member of the Artistic Directorate of Hungary, and the head of the Proletarian Fine Arts Apprentice Workshop. In 1920 he emigrated to Vienna, upholding ties with Kassák’s group. In 1921, following a short stay in Berlin, he traveled to Moscow, participated in the 3rd Congress of the Comintern and became acquainted with constructivism. Between 1922 and 1924 he worked in Vienna and where he came into acquaintance with the Kinetic style of Vienna. In 1922 he broke off relations with Kassák and edited the periodical entitled Egység /Unity/ with Aladár Komját, furthermore published the manifesto of Russian Constructivism in Hungarian, with his own commentaries. Between 1924 and 1926 he worked in Paris, after which from 1926 to 1970 he lived and produced his works in the Soviet Union. Between 1926 and 1930 he was the dean of the Painting Faculty of the Federal Institute of Applied Arts (Vhutein). He participated in the organization of the official marches and was the leading artist of the Park of Culture and Recreation. In 1930 he received the Meritorious Artist Award of the OSZSZK. Uitz furthermore organized the International Office of Revolutionary Artists and participated in the Harkovian Congress of Mural Artists. After being labeled a formalist he left Moscow and moved to Kyrgyztan. Between 1936 and 1938 he worked on the mural tasks of the Protectorate Palace in Frunz. Based on trumped –up charges, he was sentenced to prison between 1938 and 1939. In 1940 he returned to Moscow and together with eight young artists of the time worked upon the entire decoration of the session-room of the Palace of the Soviets. In 1948 in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the city of Moscow, he prepared the great wooden frame for the Kropotkin Square. In 1954, together with his co-artist O. Pavlenko he prepared the facade fresco of the Russian and Belarussian pavilion for the Agricultural Exhibition held in Moscow. In 1958 he traveled to Budapest. In 1967 he was awarded the Red Flag Work Decoration. In 1970 he was nominated a member of the Soviet Art Academy; he permanently moved back to Hungary. He was one of the most significant artists of Hungarian Activism. His avant-garde career began, in 1913, due primarily to the influence of the expressive monumental tint-drawings of his friend József Lampért Memes. The art of Goya, Cézanne, and Picasso and the exhibitions of the group named Nyolcak /The Eight/ were a further influence on his works. During his study-tour in Italy he was inspired by the works of Michelangelo, which proved an ideal clinging point of the renaissance during the years of dictatorships. Lajos Kassák published his tint-drawings and exhibition critiques in his periodical entitled MA. Uitz painted cubist-expressive landscapes. He produced a number of oil paintings in Kecskemét, which also constitute landscape and figurative depiction modes. The direct style of graphic art, however, fitted his explosive temperament and expressive inclination. Besides his tint-drawings he also prepared a number of copper etchings around 1916 with a plastic, realistic, and monumental standpoint, entitled academic, by Kassák. He desired opportunities to produce mural works throughout his life. In 1919 he prepared the wooden frame plans for the decoration of the Parliament in Budapest, the so-called Halászok és Építők /Fisherman and Builders/ composition. He even designed posters during the years of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. In 1920 he published his expressive-classicist Versuche /Experiments/, which contained eight pieces, based in part on drawings produced beforehand. In 1921 the linearism he found in the work of Rodchenko, the ancient icon paintings, the orthodox church architectural style, he encountered in Moscow, proved to have a significant effect on his works, inspiring him to produce an aquarelle series built on strong background colors. In Vienna, he painted five large scale icon-analysis works with oil onto canvas, and prepared his etching series entitled Analízis /Analysis/, which, in spite of its title, experimented with the abstract relationships of space and form, and managed to widen the spaces in the works to cosmic proportions. By 1923 he turned from the quest of studying and experimenting with the placement of power lines and form effects, to strict theorizing. In a formalist manner, in knowledge of the theory of Kandinszkij, but with the quite vulgar interpretation of Dialectic Materialism, he created his periodic form concepts. As opposed to the machine-worship of Kassák and Moholy-Nagy, he painted a series of expressive realist graphic works depicting the story of the English machine-breaker group the Luddites. He started out from geometric pattern drawings, which he reworked with purple tint to produce an expressive representation of the figures. Finally he etched the fourteen piece series to copper plate with a cold needle technique, which had an effect on the later graphic art of Hungary, primarily on the works prepared by Gyula Derkovics. In Paris he chose to make use of the motifs of the city itself, first and foremost the gothic buildings, which were to be included in his powerful landscapes. Under a commission he produced a series of didactic political drawings (i.e.: Az imperialista háború ellen /Against the imperialist war, Náluk -nálunk /Here and over there/). In the summer of 1926 he spent time in Collioure, discovered by the Vadak /Untamed/ Group. The sight of the astounding scenery of the South French seaside inspired him towards the production of a number of expressive landscape compositions. From 1926 he taught in Moscow. His creative activities became less important along side his teaching, organizational and decorative tasks. Between 1932 and 1933 he painted an entire series of monumental scull studies onto the only material at his discretion at the time: newspaper. He worked according to his strict theory of color usage, and received no commissions. He compiled his last expressive landscape series during his stay at the sanatorium of Crimea, onto blotting paper with colored ink. In accordance with the spirituality of the age he was more and more interested in the problems raised by monumental fresco painting. At first he prepared a number of wall painting plans, later however, fleeing to Kyrgyztan, due to accusations of his formalism, he received specific mural tasks. Following the studying of folk art of Kyrgyztan and the character-types found in the area, after a number of drafts he began working on the plan for the fresco of the Kyrgyz uprising of 1916. After 1940, broken during his prison years, he surrendered to the tendencies of the Social-Realism. He worked upon official tasks, the building of socialism, and later on the compositional portrayal of the battle of Stalingrad. His art became more and more rigid under the clinch of the existing doctrines. His frescos, with agricultural themes, which he painted onto the facial of the exhibition in Moscow, were typical Social-Realist works, which were covered up in the 1970’s. He continued to study color theory until the end of his life, with a maniac persistence, as well as the rules of the canon of proportion. His thematic ideas were held within boundaries by politics, up until the very end of his life. He had a enriching influence on graphic art with his activist style, the dramatic power of his works, furthermore his self-assured usage of forms, and his experimentation, which was able to fuse the styles of the time, capable of remaining realistic and preserving his monumental ideas. One-Man Shows:
1920 • Freie Bewegung, Vienna (cat.)
1924 • Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie, Vienna
1925, 1926 • Galerie d'art Clarté, Paris
1926 • Academy, Moscow
1968 • Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest (cat.)
1977 • Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
1978-1988 • Uitz Museum, Pécs (HU) (cat.)
1991 • Albertina, Vienna (cat.). Selected Group Exhibitions:
1914 • Association of Young Artists, National Salon, Budapest
1915 • Panama Pacific, San Francisco. Bibliography:
Kassák, L.: ~ kiállítása (cat., MA, 1920)
Hevesy, I.: ~, Nyugat, 1922. október 1.
Bazalgette, L.: ~ (cat. intro., Galerie d'art Clarté)
Mácza, J.: ~, Moscow, 1931
Holosztyenko, E.: ~, Harkov, 1933
Münnich, F.: ~ Album, Budapest, 1967
Kontha, S.: ~ (cat. intro., Hungarian National Gallery, 1968)
Bajkay, É.: ~ Szemtől szemben, Budapest, 1974
Bajkay, É.: ~ mappa (intro., Budapest, 1977)
Romváry, F.: ~ Múzeum, Pécs, 1978
Bajkay, É.: ~ (monogr., oeuvre cat., Budapest, 1987)
Bajkay, É.: ~ Arbeiten auf Papier aus den Jahren 1913-25. Budapest-Wien-Paris-Moskau (cat., intro., Wien, 1991).
Film:
Kis, J.: ~, portrait film, Budapest, 1969.
(Translation: Vladimir Végh)
painter, graphic artist
(8 March, 1887, Temes-Mehala – 26 January, 1972, Budapest)
1907: The Royal National School of Applied Arts; 1908-1903: College of Fine Arts; masters: Ede Balló, Károly Ferenczy, Vikotor Olgyai. In 1914 he traveled to Italy on a study tour. 1916: he was an associate and co-editor of the periodical of Kassák entitled MA /Today/. Member of the groups named Fiatalok /Youngsters/ and the Hetek /Seven/. In the summer of 1916 he worked at the Colony of Artists in Kecskemét, in 1919 he was the member of the Artistic Directorate of Hungary, and the head of the Proletarian Fine Arts Apprentice Workshop. In 1920 he emigrated to Vienna, upholding ties with Kassák’s group. In 1921, following a short stay in Berlin, he traveled to Moscow, participated in the 3rd Congress of the Comintern and became acquainted with constructivism. Between 1922 and 1924 he worked in Vienna and where he came into acquaintance with the Kinetic style of Vienna. In 1922 he broke off relations with Kassák and edited the periodical entitled Egység /Unity/ with Aladár Komját, furthermore published the manifesto of Russian Constructivism in Hungarian, with his own commentaries. Between 1924 and 1926 he worked in Paris, after which from 1926 to 1970 he lived and produced his works in the Soviet Union. Between 1926 and 1930 he was the dean of the Painting Faculty of the Federal Institute of Applied Arts (Vhutein). He participated in the organization of the official marches and was the leading artist of the Park of Culture and Recreation. In 1930 he received the Meritorious Artist Award of the OSZSZK. Uitz furthermore organized the International Office of Revolutionary Artists and participated in the Harkovian Congress of Mural Artists. After being labeled a formalist he left Moscow and moved to Kyrgyztan. Between 1936 and 1938 he worked on the mural tasks of the Protectorate Palace in Frunz. Based on trumped –up charges, he was sentenced to prison between 1938 and 1939. In 1940 he returned to Moscow and together with eight young artists of the time worked upon the entire decoration of the session-room of the Palace of the Soviets. In 1948 in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the city of Moscow, he prepared the great wooden frame for the Kropotkin Square. In 1954, together with his co-artist O. Pavlenko he prepared the facade fresco of the Russian and Belarussian pavilion for the Agricultural Exhibition held in Moscow. In 1958 he traveled to Budapest. In 1967 he was awarded the Red Flag Work Decoration. In 1970 he was nominated a member of the Soviet Art Academy; he permanently moved back to Hungary. He was one of the most significant artists of Hungarian Activism. His avant-garde career began, in 1913, due primarily to the influence of the expressive monumental tint-drawings of his friend József Lampért Memes. The art of Goya, Cézanne, and Picasso and the exhibitions of the group named Nyolcak /The Eight/ were a further influence on his works. During his study-tour in Italy he was inspired by the works of Michelangelo, which proved an ideal clinging point of the renaissance during the years of dictatorships. Lajos Kassák published his tint-drawings and exhibition critiques in his periodical entitled MA. Uitz painted cubist-expressive landscapes. He produced a number of oil paintings in Kecskemét, which also constitute landscape and figurative depiction modes. The direct style of graphic art, however, fitted his explosive temperament and expressive inclination. Besides his tint-drawings he also prepared a number of copper etchings around 1916 with a plastic, realistic, and monumental standpoint, entitled academic, by Kassák. He desired opportunities to produce mural works throughout his life. In 1919 he prepared the wooden frame plans for the decoration of the Parliament in Budapest, the so-called Halászok és Építők /Fisherman and Builders/ composition. He even designed posters during the years of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. In 1920 he published his expressive-classicist Versuche /Experiments/, which contained eight pieces, based in part on drawings produced beforehand. In 1921 the linearism he found in the work of Rodchenko, the ancient icon paintings, the orthodox church architectural style, he encountered in Moscow, proved to have a significant effect on his works, inspiring him to produce an aquarelle series built on strong background colors. In Vienna, he painted five large scale icon-analysis works with oil onto canvas, and prepared his etching series entitled Analízis /Analysis/, which, in spite of its title, experimented with the abstract relationships of space and form, and managed to widen the spaces in the works to cosmic proportions. By 1923 he turned from the quest of studying and experimenting with the placement of power lines and form effects, to strict theorizing. In a formalist manner, in knowledge of the theory of Kandinszkij, but with the quite vulgar interpretation of Dialectic Materialism, he created his periodic form concepts. As opposed to the machine-worship of Kassák and Moholy-Nagy, he painted a series of expressive realist graphic works depicting the story of the English machine-breaker group the Luddites. He started out from geometric pattern drawings, which he reworked with purple tint to produce an expressive representation of the figures. Finally he etched the fourteen piece series to copper plate with a cold needle technique, which had an effect on the later graphic art of Hungary, primarily on the works prepared by Gyula Derkovics. In Paris he chose to make use of the motifs of the city itself, first and foremost the gothic buildings, which were to be included in his powerful landscapes. Under a commission he produced a series of didactic political drawings (i.e.: Az imperialista háború ellen /Against the imperialist war, Náluk -nálunk /Here and over there/). In the summer of 1926 he spent time in Collioure, discovered by the Vadak /Untamed/ Group. The sight of the astounding scenery of the South French seaside inspired him towards the production of a number of expressive landscape compositions. From 1926 he taught in Moscow. His creative activities became less important along side his teaching, organizational and decorative tasks. Between 1932 and 1933 he painted an entire series of monumental scull studies onto the only material at his discretion at the time: newspaper. He worked according to his strict theory of color usage, and received no commissions. He compiled his last expressive landscape series during his stay at the sanatorium of Crimea, onto blotting paper with colored ink. In accordance with the spirituality of the age he was more and more interested in the problems raised by monumental fresco painting. At first he prepared a number of wall painting plans, later however, fleeing to Kyrgyztan, due to accusations of his formalism, he received specific mural tasks. Following the studying of folk art of Kyrgyztan and the character-types found in the area, after a number of drafts he began working on the plan for the fresco of the Kyrgyz uprising of 1916. After 1940, broken during his prison years, he surrendered to the tendencies of the Social-Realism. He worked upon official tasks, the building of socialism, and later on the compositional portrayal of the battle of Stalingrad. His art became more and more rigid under the clinch of the existing doctrines. His frescos, with agricultural themes, which he painted onto the facial of the exhibition in Moscow, were typical Social-Realist works, which were covered up in the 1970’s. He continued to study color theory until the end of his life, with a maniac persistence, as well as the rules of the canon of proportion. His thematic ideas were held within boundaries by politics, up until the very end of his life. He had a enriching influence on graphic art with his activist style, the dramatic power of his works, furthermore his self-assured usage of forms, and his experimentation, which was able to fuse the styles of the time, capable of remaining realistic and preserving his monumental ideas. One-Man Shows:
1920 • Freie Bewegung, Vienna (cat.)
1924 • Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie, Vienna
1925, 1926 • Galerie d'art Clarté, Paris
1926 • Academy, Moscow
1968 • Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest (cat.)
1977 • Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
1978-1988 • Uitz Museum, Pécs (HU) (cat.)
1991 • Albertina, Vienna (cat.). Selected Group Exhibitions:
1914 • Association of Young Artists, National Salon, Budapest
1915 • Panama Pacific, San Francisco. Bibliography:
Kassák, L.: ~ kiállítása (cat., MA, 1920)
Hevesy, I.: ~, Nyugat, 1922. október 1.
Bazalgette, L.: ~ (cat. intro., Galerie d'art Clarté)
Mácza, J.: ~, Moscow, 1931
Holosztyenko, E.: ~, Harkov, 1933
Münnich, F.: ~ Album, Budapest, 1967
Kontha, S.: ~ (cat. intro., Hungarian National Gallery, 1968)
Bajkay, É.: ~ Szemtől szemben, Budapest, 1974
Bajkay, É.: ~ mappa (intro., Budapest, 1977)
Romváry, F.: ~ Múzeum, Pécs, 1978
Bajkay, É.: ~ (monogr., oeuvre cat., Budapest, 1987)
Bajkay, É.: ~ Arbeiten auf Papier aus den Jahren 1913-25. Budapest-Wien-Paris-Moskau (cat., intro., Wien, 1991).
Film:
Kis, J.: ~, portrait film, Budapest, 1969.
(Translation: Vladimir Végh)
