Modern Masterpieces from the Kasser-Mochary Collection

Marino Marini: The Small Equestrian, 1957-58

Last summer in Augsburg, European exhibition-goers had the opportunity to see the modern art collection of Elizabeth and Alexander Kasser (originally Kasza) and of the Kasser Art Foundation (established in 1969). The founders’ intention was, however, to make sure that their collection would be exhibited in their native country, too. This exhibition features works otherwise rarely seen in Hungarian venues.

The collection, which instead of adhering to big collectors’ fads specifically reflects its creators’ personal tastes and is often based on their friendships with artists, provides a highly inspiring, distinctive and convincing interpretation of modern art.

Paradise on Earth is humanity’s eternal vision and dream of perfection, of nature, of harmony between people, of a golden age that never existed – one of the most inexhaustible subjects of art. The exhibited selection of 102 works by 53 different artists is embedded in this vast thematic framework.

The exhibition offers a walk through five thematic sections, following the artists’ routes while evoking Paradise on Earth. The sections Golden Age and Nature comprise masterpieces by Monet, Paul Signac, Renoir, Braque, Edmond Cross, André Derain, Alexej von Jawlensky, Alfred Sisley and others, testifying to the inspirational power of nature and the eternal idea of a golden age perfection hidden in nature. The central place in the section Heaven and Hell is occupied by Rodin’s designs of figures for The Gates of Hell, while also comprised are portraits by Daumier, Giacometti, Rodin, and Lipchitz as well as other works embodying the at once hellish and heavenly dimensions of human relationships. Another dramatic center of the section is Rodin’s marble of the severed head of St. John the Baptist. The fourth section of our exhibition is titled A World of Bliss. Here are featured genre-like representations of the simple beauty of everyday life including Balancing Woman, a fine drawing by Alexander Calder, The Roadside Café, a cheerful picture by Kees van Dongen, and Park Covered with Snow, a painting of particularly charming humour by Nino Caffe. In the same room are exhibited the prints and sculptures of Marino Marini, whose works form a central part of the Kasser collection as a result of the founders’ close friendship with the artist. The fifth thematic section of the show, titled Adam and Eve, comprises various artistic formulations of the relationship between man and woman, and of the idea of the eternal woman. Surrounded by the works of Cézanne, Renoir, Maillol, Henry Moore, Modigliani, Matisse and Degas, Rodin’s L’éternelle idole stands in the centre of the room. The sculpture is a key piece in the Kasser collection: it was this work that captured the imagination of young Alexander Kasser in 1929, turning him into a committed art enthusiast.

In addition to the works mentioned above, artists Jean Arp, Marc Chagall, Giorgio de Chirico, Joseph Csáky, Giacomo Manzu, Max Pechstein, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Maurice Utrillo and Ossip Zadkine are also represented in the exhibition by excellent works.