| Magyar Színek | In 2004 while in Hungary, Libertino produced a series of some 27 works collecively called "Magyar
Színek", a Hungarian working title having the double meaning of
'Hungarian Colours' and 'Hungarian Scenes'; the paintings were divided
into two separate groups: the colour paintings, and the allegorical scenes. The body of work was met with both critical success and controversy. |
a Budai oldalról (#1)
oil on linen |
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a Budai oldalról (#7)
oil on linen |
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a Keleti oldalán
oil on linen |
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a Budai oldalról (#4)
oil on linen |
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Russian Spring (#1989)
oil on linen |
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interrupted geometry (#1699)
oil on linen |
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The colour paintings
are evocative views of characteristically Hungarian Landscapes painted
employing multiple layers of glaze in boldly coloured, principally
dichromatic compositions. In the paintings ‘A Budai Oldalról (#1), (#4)
& (#7)', atmospheric views of the iconic Hungarian Parliament
building are displayed. And in ‘A Keleti Oldalán' the Pest side
of the Hungarian capital is shown from across the Danube.
The allegorical scenes
are a series of figure paintings and still lifes, each of which
references specific and significant episodes or eras of Hungarian
culture and history. ‘Interrupted Geometry (#1699)’ is a still
life of
cut fruit and rosary beads set upon a patterned oriental carpet. The
composition speaks
to the century and a half period of Turkish dominion under which
Hungary existed. In‘Russian Spring (#1989)', a
still life with a small bouquet of snowdrops, a flower
traditionally sold by old women on the streets of Hungary in Spring,
sits on a table in front of a detail from a small copy of Hungarian
Mihály Munkácsy’s famous painting ‘Siralomház’ that depicts a condemned
man in his cell. The painting alludes to the depressed but hopeful
period at the very end of Soviet occupation in the last part of the
1980’s. (note: several of the paintings, of a somewhat controversial
nature, are not shown here due to contractual agreement with the
purchaser).
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