János Mattis Teutsch and the Hungarian Avant-Garde [antikvár]

Preface and Appreciation This exhibifion came about as the direct result of my first visit to Budapest, Hungary. The purpose of this trip was personal. I was visiting relatives, intent on seeing a cousin whom I had met for the first time during his visit to Los Angeles in the summer of 2000. With limited knowledge of the art and art scene, I set about to familiarize myself with local galleries. I found a wealth of great Hungárián art that utter-ly captivated me. Unlike its celebrated music and food, Hungary's equally sophisticated art is little-known outside of its homeland. I dedicated myself to organizing and presenting an exhibition that would acknowledge and honor the contributions of a generation of visionary Hungárián artists. In so doing, I afford myself the opportunity to integrate a meaningful personal exploration with a unique professional discovery. Th is project would not have been realized without the expertise and support of Eva Forgács in Los Angeles and Eva Bajkay in Budapest. Their contribu-tion was invaluable, a portion of which is revealed in the pages of this pub-lication. I am most appreciative for the kind assistance and cooperation pro-vided by Tamás and Anita Kieselbach, László Erdész, Ferenc Kiss, Valerie Carberry and Michael Szarvasy. I am especially fortunate to have had as partners in this endeavor, László Jurecskó and Zsolt Kishonthy, owners and directors of MissionArt Galéria in Budapest and Miskolc. They laid the foundation for this project as co-organ-izers of last year's major retrospective, János Mattis Teutsch und der Blau Reiter, at the Hungárián National Gallery in Budapest and the Haus der Kunst in Munich . I would alsó like to express my thanks to their staff: Beáta Bárkovics, Erzsébet Balláné, Laura Kiszty in Budapest and Viktória Fekete in Miskolc. This publication would simply not exist without the tireless efforts of my staff: Melissa Popé, Quinton Bemiller and Marié Chambers. Last but not least, a sincere expression of gratitude for a few dear friends who lent their wisdom and patience in guiding me on this venture. I would like to dedicate this publication to the memory of my father, Frederic Stern, and all of the other proud Hungarians. Without a doubt, he would have been delighted to admire an exhibition of what he would have con-sidered somé of the greatest paintings in the world. Louis Stern