Hungary – 50th Anniversary of Republic of Councils 1969 Silver 100 Forint 40mm (22.03 grams) 0.640 Silver (0.4527 oz. ASW) Reference: KM# 590, ÉH# 1557, H# 2374 | Engraver: Dezső KOVÁCS MAGYAR NÉPKÖZTÁRSASÁG 100 BP FORINT 1969, Seal. MAGYAR TANÁCSKÖZTÁRSASÁG · 1919. III. 21. ·, Revolutionary, after the placard of Róbert Berény.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Róbert Berény (1887 – 1953, in Budapest) was a Hungarian painter, one of the avant-garde group known as The Eight who introduced cubism and expressionism to Hungarian art in the early twentieth century before the First World War. He had studied and exhibited in Paris as a young man and was also considered one of the Hungarian Fauves.
Róbert Berény was born in Budapest in 1887. As a young man of 17, in 1904 he studied under the artist Tivadar Zemplényi for several months before moving to study at the Académie Julian in Paris.
While there, Berény was particularly influenced by the power of Paul Cézanne’s art. He also adopted some of the uses of color of the Fauve movement, and exhibited at the Salon d’Automne with French artists of the Fauvists.
Berény is best known for his form of expressionism and cubism, which he developed in association with the avant-garde group known as The Eight, who had their first exhibit together in Budapest in 1909. They included the leader Károly Kernstok, Lajos Tihanyi, Béla Czóbel, Dezső Czigány, Ödön Márffy, Dezső Orbán, and Bertalan Pór. He brought to them French influences from his time in Paris.
At their next exhibition, in 1911, the group identified as A Nyolcak, or “The Eight.” They essentially formed the core of modernist experimentation, and were part of radical intellectual currents in music and literature, as well. Berény’s most important work of this early period is his portrait of the composer Béla Bartók (1913). That year he also painted Scene.
In 1919, Berény participated in the art life of the brief Hungarian Democratic Republic, and was the leader of the department for painting in the Art Directorate. After the fall of the republic that year, Berény emigrated to Berlin, together with numerous other Hungarian artists and writers. He lived and worked there for several years, continuing his emphasis on cubism and expressionism. He did not return to Hungary until 1926.
After 1934, he worked in Zebegény, near the Danube Bend in northern Hungary. He was awarded the Szinnyei Prize in 1936.
During the last year of World War II, Berény’s atelier was destroyed, together with many of his works. After the war, under the communist government, he became a teacher in what is now the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest. He died in 1953.
Since the late twentieth century and the political changes in eastern Europe, there has been renewed interest in Hungary’s early modernist artists. The exhibits below have honored Berény and others of The Eight, and two bracket the centenary of their first exhibit in 1911 under that name.
Hungary is a sovereign state in Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, Slovenia to the west, Austria to the northwest, and Ukraine to the northeast. The country’s capital and largest city is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and the Schengen Area. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Following centuries of successive habitation by Celts, Romans, Huns, Slavs, Gepids, and Avars, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád in the Honfoglalás (“homeland-conquest”). His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000 CE, converting the country to a Christian kingdom. By the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 and about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541-1699), Hungary came under Habsburg rule, and later formed a significant part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918).
Hungary’s current borders were first established by the Treaty of Trianon (1920) after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, and 32% of ethnic Hungarians. Following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary came under the influence of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship (1947-1989). The country gained widespread international attention regarding the Revolution of 1956 and the seminal opening of its previously-restricted border with Austria in 1989, which accelerated the collapse of the Eastern Bloc.
On 23 October 1989, Hungary again became a democratic parliamentary republic, and today has a high-income economy with a very high Human Development Index. Hungary is a popular tourist destination attracting 10.675 million tourists a year (2013). It is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the second-largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (the Hortobágy National Park).
|