ROBERT BERÉNY (1887-1953) EMERGÉ / [HIGH QUALITY RUBBER HOSES FOR HOT COUNTRIES.] Circa 1930s.
49 1/2x37 1/4 inches, 125 3/4x94 1/2 cm.
Condition A / A-: minor creases and abrasions along vertical and horizontal folds. Paper.
Berény was a painter, who studied in Paris at the Academie Julien before returning to Hungary where he joined the Modernist painter's group, The Eight, [Nyolcak]. He fought during the First World War, but left Hungary to live in Berlin in the early 1920s. When he returned to Hungary in 1926, he established himself as one of the foremost modern graphic designers in the country. His designs, along with the work of Alexander (Sandor) Bortnyik, set the standard for Hungarian graphic modernism. "The birth of the modern Hungarian poster is closely connected with two artists. Their entirely individual posters were free of all external influence, and thus prepared a real revolution in Hungarian poster art . . . we can positively assert that that the first posters of Robert Berény and Alexander Bortnyik mark a new epoch in the Hungarian poster and advertising art" (Commercial Art, September 1930 p. 106). This unusual and previously unrecorded poster promotes a brand of hoses for clients in Palestine. As there is no printing information, it is uncertain where the poster was printed, and unclear how Berény would have received this commission. What is clear though, is his bold graphic design, with its simple, strong color scheme, in which a man appears to be wrestling with a serpent. Rare-previously unrecorded.