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Béla Kádár
Béla Kádár began his career as an artist painting murals, and by 1910 he had made two pilgrimages to Paris and Berlin. Kádár's first important exhibition came in October 1923 at the gallery of Herwarth Walden (see lot 144), a writer and patron of the avant-garde movement in Berlin. Walden also published the influential journal Der Sturm, which Kádár collected ardiously to study the works of such featured artists as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Oskar Kokoschka and Franz Marc.
During a group exhibition with other Der Sturm artists, Kádár was introduced to Katherine Dreier. As the enterprising director of the Socété Anonyme based in New York, Dreier brought the work of
the German and European avant-garde to America. She introduced Kádár to audiences in America with two exhibitions of his work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. In September 1928, Kádár first traveled to New York for the second of the Brooklyn Museum exhibitions. It was during this time that he met Imre and Mary Elizabeth Deák.
Mr. and Mrs. Deák shared a similar passion for music and collecting. Imre Deák had studied at the Royal Academy in Budapest and continued his education at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he met his future wife Mary Elizabeth Gise, a fellow student. The couple married in 1918 and surrounded themselves with many important artists, writers and musicians of the day. Hungarian, by birth, the Deáks were enthusiastic about Kádár's work and became friends with the artist, corresponding with him during his stay in New York.
The following selection of constructivist compositions and charcoal sketches of the 1920s and early 1930s (lots 169-176) offers a brief but fascinating overview of Kádár's varied and prolific career. In these works the artist brought together the rural traditions of Hungarian folklore, the decorative genius of the country's renowned folk arts, with the stylistic elements derived from cubo-futurism, expressionism and constructivism.
Béla Kádár (1877-1955)
Elegant Woman in a Cityscape
Details
Béla Kádár (1877-1955)
Elegant Woman in a Cityscape
signed and dedicated 'Bela Kádár FOR MARY ELISEBETH DEÁK.' (lower right)
gouache on board
20 x 14¾ in. (50.9 x 37.5 cm.)
Elegant Woman in a Cityscape
signed and dedicated 'Bela Kádár FOR MARY ELISEBETH DEÁK.' (lower right)
gouache on board
20 x 14¾ in. (50.9 x 37.5 cm.)
Provenance
Mary Elizabeth Gise (Mrs. Imre Deák), New York (acquired from the artist).
By descent from the above to the present owner.
By descent from the above to the present owner.