(Kaposvar 1867–1939 Budapest)
Before the ride, 1918, signed, dated Vaszary J 918, oil on canvas, 81 x 101 cm, framed, (PS)

Provenance:
Galerie Kieselbach, Budapest
Private Collection, Germany

The turmoil of war which János Vaszary recorded in his pencil drawings during WWl seem forgotten in the painting ‘Before Riding Forth’. Even before the outbreak of war, Vaszary had intensively grappled with the work of the Fauvists, adapting individual elements of their style to his own work. The wide brushstrokes in the present work with their many shades of green mark a new beginning which Vaszary dared in a more Impressionist style rather in the brightly coloured style of the Fauvists. The old trees throw shadows on the two sections of the garden which are separated by a grey wall. Brightened by spots of light, they penetrate the leafy roof overhead. The outlines of the woman waiting in the foreground are largely dissolved, blending harmoniously into the two-dimensional image. The spatial depth in the painting is primarily the result of the two garden walls, running parallel to each other and the glimpse we are offered of the brightly sun-lit farmstead in the background. The woman’s stillness provides a stark contrast with the movement of the leaves and the flickering sunlight. János Vaszary depicts the foliage with short, closely spaced diagonals through which falls the dazzling sunlight. The woman pauses, this stillness accentuated by the elongated brushstrokes on her dress, appearing lost in thought, as if looking at something lying beyond the edge of the painting. The circular red of her hat, the only powerful splash of colour, draws the viewer’s gaze and forms a complementary contrast to the subtle greens.
Vaszary was appointed Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest in 1920, intensively studying the art of the Avantgarde movement from this time onwards.