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Auction archive: Lot number 511

λ GEORGES CSATÓ (HUNGARIAN 1910-1983), UNTITLED (NO. 67)

Estimate
£20,000 - £30,000
ca. US$26,984 - US$40,476
Price realised:
n. a.
Auction archive: Lot number 511

λ GEORGES CSATÓ (HUNGARIAN 1910-1983), UNTITLED (NO. 67)

Estimate
£20,000 - £30,000
ca. US$26,984 - US$40,476
Price realised:
n. a.
Beschreibung:

λ GEORGES CSATÓ (HUNGARIAN 1910-1983) UNTITLED (NO. 67) Oil and acrylic on canvas, in six parts Three signed, each with atelier stamps and variously inscribed Each 120 x 60cm (47 x 23½ in.) Overall 120 x 360cm (47 x 142 in.) (6) Provenance: Direct from the artist's estate Georges Csató was born in Budapest in 1910. After completing classical art studies in Vienna, in the 1930s he headed to Berlin to continue his training and was fortunate to have met and studied with a number of the most influential artists of the day, including Alexander Archipenko Käthe Kollwitz Karl Hofer Paul Klee and Lionel Feininger. The artist later wrote of this time 'I was a realist painter to begin with because in Berlin in 1932 abstract art was very, very rare, though I received some lessons in abstract composition from Klee. And then the war came and disrupted everything.' With the rise of Nazism, Csató escaped Germany to Prague where he studied under Oskar Kokoschka and Otto Thiele But the onset of war, saw him captured by the Russians and put into a labour camp. Whilst there he painted portraits of his captors. A particularly compelling diary entry of the period tells of an extraordinary encounter: 'A commanding officer told me that I had to paint the most important portrait that I had ever done in my life. They blindfolded me and put me in an army car. We drove at high speed for about an hour until we arrived at a little peasant house where I was searched. They took me into a room where an old man was sitting behind a huge table. It was Stalin! While I was sketching him he never spoke a single word, he just sat there chain smoking. The only movement he made was to push a bottle of Vodka and a packet of cigarettes across the table to me.' After the war, Csató retuned to Budapest but Hungary fell under Stalinist rule with abstract painting strictly prohibited and he fled to Paris as a refugee where he remained for the rest of his life. Csató's bold expressive style was well received in Paris and Jean Cocteau organised his first exhibition at Librairie Paul Morihien in 1948. He became a popular figure in the Parisian avant-garde scene and went on to participate in a number of the radical salons such as the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and the Salon des Comparaisons. He exhibited widely in Paris and by the 1970's he had also achieved international acclaim, exhibiting successfully in London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Bonn, and Canada. Notable exhibitions include Galerie Silvagni, Paris, 1951; Hanover Gallery, London 1953; Gallerie de Berri, Paris 1954; Galerie Furstenberg, Paris 1956; Galerie Mariac, Paris 1959; Gallerie di Meo, Paris 1959; Santes Landweer, Amsterdam 1967; Walton Gallery, London 1970; Chastenet Gallery, London 1979; Salon D'Automme, Paris 1979; Arcadia Gallery, Paris 1981 & 1982; Gallerie L'Obsidienne, Paris 1986. The artist's work is now represented in several major public collections including Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Bibliotheque Nationale, Marseille; Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, Columbia; Mendel Art Gallery, Canada. During his lifetime Csato painted many well known figures from life including Bela Bartok, Karen Blixen, Winston Churchill Colette, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Charles de Gaulle, David Ben-Gurion, Ernest Hemingway, J F Kennedy, Pablo Picasso Bertrand Russell, Albert Schweitzer as well as Joseph Stalin. Condition Report: Three of the canvases are slightly uneven on the stretchers. They all appear to be in good original condition. Condition Report Disclaimer

Auction archive: Lot number 511
Auction:
Datum:
20 Jan 2021
Auction house:
Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions
16-17 Pall Mall
St James’s
London, SW1Y 5LU
United Kingdom
info@dreweatts.com
+44 (0)20 78398880
Beschreibung:

λ GEORGES CSATÓ (HUNGARIAN 1910-1983) UNTITLED (NO. 67) Oil and acrylic on canvas, in six parts Three signed, each with atelier stamps and variously inscribed Each 120 x 60cm (47 x 23½ in.) Overall 120 x 360cm (47 x 142 in.) (6) Provenance: Direct from the artist's estate Georges Csató was born in Budapest in 1910. After completing classical art studies in Vienna, in the 1930s he headed to Berlin to continue his training and was fortunate to have met and studied with a number of the most influential artists of the day, including Alexander Archipenko Käthe Kollwitz Karl Hofer Paul Klee and Lionel Feininger. The artist later wrote of this time 'I was a realist painter to begin with because in Berlin in 1932 abstract art was very, very rare, though I received some lessons in abstract composition from Klee. And then the war came and disrupted everything.' With the rise of Nazism, Csató escaped Germany to Prague where he studied under Oskar Kokoschka and Otto Thiele But the onset of war, saw him captured by the Russians and put into a labour camp. Whilst there he painted portraits of his captors. A particularly compelling diary entry of the period tells of an extraordinary encounter: 'A commanding officer told me that I had to paint the most important portrait that I had ever done in my life. They blindfolded me and put me in an army car. We drove at high speed for about an hour until we arrived at a little peasant house where I was searched. They took me into a room where an old man was sitting behind a huge table. It was Stalin! While I was sketching him he never spoke a single word, he just sat there chain smoking. The only movement he made was to push a bottle of Vodka and a packet of cigarettes across the table to me.' After the war, Csató retuned to Budapest but Hungary fell under Stalinist rule with abstract painting strictly prohibited and he fled to Paris as a refugee where he remained for the rest of his life. Csató's bold expressive style was well received in Paris and Jean Cocteau organised his first exhibition at Librairie Paul Morihien in 1948. He became a popular figure in the Parisian avant-garde scene and went on to participate in a number of the radical salons such as the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and the Salon des Comparaisons. He exhibited widely in Paris and by the 1970's he had also achieved international acclaim, exhibiting successfully in London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Bonn, and Canada. Notable exhibitions include Galerie Silvagni, Paris, 1951; Hanover Gallery, London 1953; Gallerie de Berri, Paris 1954; Galerie Furstenberg, Paris 1956; Galerie Mariac, Paris 1959; Gallerie di Meo, Paris 1959; Santes Landweer, Amsterdam 1967; Walton Gallery, London 1970; Chastenet Gallery, London 1979; Salon D'Automme, Paris 1979; Arcadia Gallery, Paris 1981 & 1982; Gallerie L'Obsidienne, Paris 1986. The artist's work is now represented in several major public collections including Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Bibliotheque Nationale, Marseille; Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, Columbia; Mendel Art Gallery, Canada. During his lifetime Csato painted many well known figures from life including Bela Bartok, Karen Blixen, Winston Churchill Colette, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Charles de Gaulle, David Ben-Gurion, Ernest Hemingway, J F Kennedy, Pablo Picasso Bertrand Russell, Albert Schweitzer as well as Joseph Stalin. Condition Report: Three of the canvases are slightly uneven on the stretchers. They all appear to be in good original condition. Condition Report Disclaimer

Auction archive: Lot number 511
Auction:
Datum:
20 Jan 2021
Auction house:
Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions
16-17 Pall Mall
St James’s
London, SW1Y 5LU
United Kingdom
info@dreweatts.com
+44 (0)20 78398880
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