Márffy Ödön's exhibition in Kogart

Colors, light, and glamour-Márffy Ödön’s paintings in Kogart Gallery, Budapest

The unique exhibition is open till August, 1, 2010.

Márffy Ödön’s paintings transmit optimism to the visitors: harmony, the use of light and bright colors, freshness, and joy fill in the rooms through the works.

Márffy Ödön (1878-1959) was one of the most important representatives of the first Avant-garde movements in the 20th century Hungary. The artist visited Paris, where he spent several years with studying the art of Matisse and Cézanne. The effect of the French painters impressed Márffy’s point of view significantly; he used his experiences and fresh knowledge after having returned to Hungary. He became founder of innovative movements, such as “Nyolcak” or “KÚT”.  Also, he befriended with the intellectuals of the era, for example Ady Endre, Rippl-Rónai, or Fülep Lajos. In 1920, he married Ady’s widow, Csinszka, whom he portrayed in his lyric paintings. Although his portfolio includes the effects and impressions of several different eras, the use of light colors, modern point of view, French elegance, and artistic richness signal all of his paintings in the collection.

The exhibition presents Márffy’s entire anthology of paintings. Some rarely seen and almost forgotten works of art are exhibited besides his well-known and famous pieces. More than a hundred paintings—including portrays, landscapes, lakeshore-scenes, home-interiors, and the world of circus— await visitors in Kogart Gallery, Budapest.

The Dreamers

The Dreamers in Thália Theatre, Budapest

Bernardo Bertolucci, Oscar-winner director’s movie, The Dreamers is on stage for the very first time in Budapest.

Films, sexuality, devotion, and togetherness compose the body of story; however, all these are surrounded by the events of the student-riots of 1968 in Paris. Matthew is an American student, who gets to know Théo and Isabelle, the eccentric twins in Cinémathique. They soon become close friends and continues meeting even after the scandalous closing of the cinema. Actually, Matthew moves to the twins’ apartment, which becomes the location of strange and unusual events. The twins draw Matthew into their bizarre cinematic games, which are the fulfillments of their sexual desires as well. Thus, the trio starts to play a series of sexually filled games and bets, the stake of which becomes more and more serious. It is dangerous to play with eternity, isn’t it?

The play’s young director, Dicső Dániel's point of view was to create a modern, idealized piece, which keeps classical theatrical traditions but includes cinematic tools and representations. The innovative director deliberately avoided the nowadays fashionable vulgarity and aggressiveness; both of these are preferred in today’s theatrical world. However, intimacy, which is directors’ basic aim in modern plays, usually cannot be reached through offensiveness. The director used Bertolucci’s cultic film as a background to create the atmosphere of his presentation.

Desires, sexuality, devotion are the essence of the play, which are transmitted towards the viewers through the representation of three young people’s fears, happiness, and physical and mental pains. The borders of reality and imagination seem to fade, as the trio lives and play their bittersweet fate.

Degas to Picasso

Selected Masterpieces from the Collection of the Pushkin Museum, Moscow

The uniquely significant exhibition is open till April 25, so for those who do not want to miss the special occasion, approximately 10 days left to visit the exposition in the Museum of Fine Arts. The show includes 55 paintings from the collection of Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Visitors can recognize the most famous pieces of Courbet, Corot, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso and others, which are obviously well-known for most of us from art albums. Most of these works are presented in Hungary for the very first time.

The paintings supply visitors with a chronological overview of Impressionism,  Symbolism, and the first avant-garde movements, such as Fauves and Cubists. Thus, guests can study a selection of French paintings from the late 19th century and from the beginning of the 20th century.

It is interesting to note, that the exhibited works of art originate from the collections of two exceptional Russian art collectors, Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin. These two art dealers belonged to the new burgeois class of the late 19th century Russia and devoted a significant amount of their fortune and time to support unrecognized artists, who were not accepted by their contemporaries that time. Due to their graceful activity, masterpieces, like Picasso's Acrobat and Young Harlequin or Monet's Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies await visitors now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.