Posted 13 years ago
vetraio50
(751 items)
Bought a week ago at a market here in Sydney is a figure by a Hungarian Anna Berkovits. I've not been able to find out much about Anna B. I know that she exhibited at the Milan Triennale in 1933 and in New York in 1939. The figure has a werkstatte look about her and I enjoy the glazed dots that shimmer against the matt gown. She has a really cute nose and the eyes remind me of some of the Goldscheider masks. I have also seen a mask that she did in the 1930's.
I have seen another mark the Begébe ( Berkovits-Gáldy-Berkovits) and would appreciate any more info about that group as well.
Any more information about the artist and her work would be appreciated.
I don't know anything about her, but this is GORGEOUS! What a treasure!
Thank you stefdesign!
Hi young one! I'd seen the pieces on Galeria Savaria. One the same too! My computer translates automatically and I think Hungarian he/she may not be too clear yet to the translator. From what I can make out Anna is a female name in Hungarian. It is a male name in Frisian, but not in Hungary. I think.....
It seems then there were two sisters Anna and Elisabeta (?) who formed a company with Gáldy : BGB ( or Begébe ). I've emailed a Hungarian dealer asking for more info.
So, a work in progress and thanks again for your help.
Beautiful! Vertraio50, it is such a delight to see and learn about some items from your part of the globe. Please keep posting!
Hey, thank you cindyjune...check out ozmarty's new posts too! regards
from Down Under!
I am the daughter of the artist Anna Berkovits. She was born 1911 and died is 1986.
She lived and worked on Budapest. Her sister Erzsi Berkovits emigrated to N.Y.
(1906-2006). my mother was cheramist, her sister later became enterieur designer.
In the 1930 years they worked together on Budapest. I have a nice collection of my mother s work. I enjoy them and proud of her art.
bégébé - it means: Berkovits-Gáldi - Berkovits
Éva Gáldi was the third member of the trio. She was a friend of my mother, and they lead their studio for some time in the thirties, before the war. Later after their marriages and because of the coming war they had to give up. But my mom continued her craft and art later, from the fifties - till her death, her sister lived in N.Y. and Éva Gáldi remained one of her best friend. I am so happy that you are interested in her work and like her arts.
Hi Anna! Many thanks for you comments and information.
Yesterday I bought a book here in Sydney on the work of another artist that reminded me of your mother's work: Margit Kovacs. She was a little older than your mother, born in 1902 at Gyor. She had trained under Almos Jaschik in Budapest. Can you give me the details of where your mother trained? Who were her teachers? There is so little written in English about this period that I have access to here in Australia.
Thanks again.
Yes, my mother also learned drawing at Jaschik, who had an art studio - he taught drawing, print technics, I mean several kinds of graphic skills, he himself was an excellent artist. First my mother s sister (she was the elder) began her studies at him, but Jaschik once saw my mother as she made some little figures from plastilin and invited her into the school. (that is the family story) my mother began her studies at 18. Her sister Erzsi went on and studied painting on the Academy of Fine Arts, her teacher was Vaszary János, (a really very good painter) later studied in Paris at Leger. My mother learned ceramics at Gador Istvan, who was an outstanding artist of that years. As far as I know, Kovacs Margit studied in Wienna. They knew each other very well, my mother adored her art and works. Here in Hungary there is a big tradition of aplied arts, craft arts. There were many ceramist and their pieces are collected by museums, galleries and private persons as well. There is a Museum of Kovacs Margit on Szentendre (near to Budapest). My mother worked for galleries and sold her works to abroad too. There are some books and articles about hungarian craft art in the XX.th. century, but unfortunatly in hungarian, only with some short resume in english.
Many thanks again Anna.
On the net I have found this citation:
"TANULMÁNYAIT MAGÁNTANÍTVÁNYKÉNT KENDE JUDITNÁL KEZDTE.
MAJD 1931-TÖL ÖNÁLLÓAN SAJÁT KERÁMIA M?HELYÉBEN DOLGOZIK.
N?VÉRÉVEL BERKOVITS ERZSÉBETTEL ÉS GÁLDY ÉVÁVAL EGYÜTT MEGALAPÍTJA
A BEGÉBE ( BERKOVITS-GÁLDY-BERKOVITS) M?HELYT.
EGYEDI STÍLUSVILÁGÚ KERÁMIÁKAT TERVEZ. A HARMINCAS ÉVEKT?L TÖBB KIÁLLÍTÁS RÉSZTVEV?JE.
SZEREPEL M?VEIVEL A MAGYAR CSOPORT RÉSZEKÉNT 1933-AS MILÁNÓI TRIENNÁLÉN ÉS AZ 1939-ES NEW YORK-I VILÁGKIÁLLÍTÁSON."
Do you know anything about your mother's exhibition in Milan or in new York?
Did she travel to the US?
I know about the exhibition in Milano, but do not have more information about other exhibitions on abroad. There is a book Magyar art deco ceramiak, the author of the book is Fabian Sandor
, published 2006. on the page 222. you can read some text about my mom, her sister and friend. unfortunately there is no english translation or resume .
Again I thank anna and you too scandinavian_pieces. Is this site not amazing?
Thanks ozmarty, cindyjune, thriftfan, FineLines, lisa, ThriftStoreAddict, Mgarrett50 and Redesigns for your kind comments.
Thanks BELLIN68!
Hallo, vetraio50. I'm Anna Glauber's cousin in Sydney, and am intrigued by your find of her mother's work - I'd love to know (as would she) where it turned up.
Hi Potkin! As I said in my description I bought it at the Rozelle Primary School Market here in Sydney five months ago. I bought it from a dealer who had it on his stall there. I know he does the auction houses. I do not get out to do them. He had no idea about it and could not read the signature. When I first saw it I thought it might have been Finnish. But when I arrived home with it I began my search on the internet.
I have not shown in the photos that there are remnants of two stickers. Both of the stickers have an illustration of a head-pot with iv above it. One sticker has more info: the head-pot iv in white on a black ground.
Below the pot in white lettering is the name of what I believe is a branch of the applied arts group MAK in Budapest: iparmuveszeti vallalat.
Beside that are zsuri & szam and in red ink 1140 ( or 1148); fogy & ap...
I have seen another version of the same figure on the net as well.
A couple of months ago I lost all of my data on another computer and the work I had done on your aunt's work was lost.
What we have gleaned from comments here on Collector's Weekly is what remains, I'm afraid.
Hi vetraio50 - many thanks for prompt reply and for giving the market's location -(previously unspecified.) I have emailed Anna. The mystery deepens - I'd love to trace the piece's journey - perhaps we can meet at a market and ask the dealer (who I imagine does more than one) - and then the auction house.... my first thought was that it came from the estate of a local Hungarian, either brought in emigrant luggage, or as holiday purchase - I don't know if any were imported commercially. I too have great respect and fondness for the work of both my aunts, after whom I am named, and am finally starting to play with clay myself - and enjoying the family gift. Regarding the sticker, Anna will be able to confirm this, but I'd say it is a price tag"zsuri"might mean group; szam means number, and fogy. refers to price, which seems to be 1140/8 forint.
I will not see the dealer for a few weeks now but I do know him fairly well and he'd be glad to tell me I'm sure. I'd spoken to him after I worked out the signature and he remembered what I was talking about. That is unusual in itself. The number 1140 is next to zsuri/zsam and I believe to be might be an item number rather than a price which would have been lower. That section has been torn away.
I also searched for Berkovits, Anna on the net here when I got it. It also occurred to me that it was bought by an Hungaro/Australian on a trip to the East. But when did that type of tourism begin?
Were there shops here in Sydney that sold Hungarian imports? I do remember a friend Denise Soos telling me that when she arrived here in Sydney in 1956 there were only two spots in Sydney where she buy "food". I have only vague memories of a signs with "Magyar": perhaps in the city?
There were certainly Czech imports through Bohemia Crystal Pty Limited, Australia. The Italians and Greeks too, I think.
The search also took me to an eponymous American professor who had been sent to Auschwitz and survived.
I'd be pleased to meet up if you wish.
Greetings, Vetraio50!
First, about Hungarian bookshops - there was Globe Books and Gifts, in either George or Pitt streets, near Liverpool street, I think. It was there I bought my copy of Kovacs Margit (translates as Margaret Smith).
On behalf of Anna, some more info:
The zsuri-szam is literally a jury number, the jury being a board or committee who determined the marketability of the piece and quantity of the (limited) run, as these were artists' works). So this number could be described as the official model/code/catalogue number. Under this system, an artist like Anna's mother would be permitted to make only the number of pieces agreed by the zsuri. However, if there was unprecedented demand for a piece, an exception would be made, and the zsuri again permitted a specified run to be brought into circulation.
(I first went to Hungary in 1964; I remember tales from those who had obviously been already, together with recommendations for gifts - ballpoint pens being the chief one, along with transistor radios and sticky tape! There was certainly some excellent art (which could not be taken out of the country) and various artisan crafts in metal, leather, ceramics, textiles etc, which could.
I'll be interested to learn what your dealer can recall! Maybe I'll get to find out in person one day.
Hi Potkin!
The book on Margit Kovacs is probably the one I have written by Ilona Pataky-Brestyanszky. Again it was found at Rozelle markets two months ago. I had used it to glean some more information around the period.
A few weeks later I picked up a little singing angel that I believe to be by Margit Kovacs at a St Vincent de Paul store!
I am going to take some pictures of it soon and will out in on Collector's Weekly!
Thank you for the information about the Globe Books and Gifts reference. I wonder if they had any relationship with the book publishing firm.
It took me back to the days in the late sixties when I was interested in things from behind the "Iron Curtain". I had a subscription to a magazine from the east called "Sputnik". Unfortunately I don't have them any more. They must have been rare items here in Australia. It started me on being aware of products from the East: glass from Bohemia etc.
Wikipedia notes:
Sputnik (Russian: ???????) was a Soviet magazine published from 1967 until 1991 by the Soviet press agency Novosti in several languages, targeted at both Eastern Bloc countries and Western nations. It was intended to be a Soviet equivalent to the Reader's Digest, publishing news stories excerpted from the Soviet press in a similar size and paper. Although already censored by the Soviet government, Sputnik was at times censored by the governments of countries at odds with the Kremlin, the most noted example being East Germany in 1988.
Today I have been revisiting a few of the sites that I mentioned above:
http://galeriasavaria.hu/hu/muveszek/reszletek/26_berkovits_anna/
and
http://www.magyarkeramia.hu/keramia/berkovics/page.html
They both have the same information on Berkovits Anna.
One word has stumped me however: évekt?l or evektol. An "e acute" and an accent over the "o". Can you tell me what it means. It seems to be used in a context after a date period: a 1920's ....................... .
The full sentence is "A harmincas evektol tobb kiallitas resztvevoje."
I've taken out the accents.
Strangely enough I think what we have here on Collector's Weekly is the most information available on the net about Anna Berkovits.
I'm also getting started on doing some searching on the net about those labels.
I want to know more about MAK and "iparmuveszeti vallalat".
Many thanks again. I'm getting ready for the New Year!
Hi there again Vetraio50!
Yes - that's the book I have, too. Wonderfully earthy and full-of-life figures - a relative in the US has a couple of her pieces, one of which might even be a little angel, so I'll be interested to see what you have.
Translation time "from the thirties (harmincas) years (evektol) participant in several exhibitions".
(or to be strictly literal, "the thirties years-from several exhibitions participant-of")...
Re the "IV": as I understand it, they were the official (state) organisation, who distributed work to their shops both in Budapest and large country towns. There was another agency, Artex, which her mother used for work sent out of the country. She could not deal with private individuals.
How about you list specific questions, and we'll be happy to answer what we can .
Happy new year celebrations!
Hi Potkin!
I've come across this site devoted to VASZARY, Istvan;
http://vaszary.uw.hu/R005.htm
There are some pictures of him surrounded by adoring students.
A good looking bloke in his early days!
I'm setting about a list of questions.
It seems as well that there were annual volumes issued of Magyar Iparmuveszet.
Were there any that mention Anna B. ?
And good evening Vetraio50!!
My goodness, this is some fascinating business I've stumbled into - all because I phoned my cousin for Christmas, and she told me to look on this site.
I've had a merry time reading the Vaszary and comparing the English ?translation with the original - one caption that could be more accurately rendered is "seated woman with lilac parasol". Plenty more, and good for a laugh (a word in Hungarian not unlike the word for "renowned" which, coupled with the convolutions of grammar, has resulted in another bit of bizarreness. I do like his work, though, and I wonder if I have seen some of it before - a couple looked somewhat familiar.
I've again emailed Anna, so maybe she will answer re. MI.
Looking forward to those questions, though.
Many thanks vanskyock24!
Happy New Year!
Many thanks mustangtony!
Many thanks SEAN!
your very welcome Kevin:)
Extraordinary figure and story Kevin!
In some ways the world is a small place.
Many thanks AGHCOLLECT and to you too for those kind words KAREN. This is an all time favourite.
Many thanks AIMATHENA, DEAN'nDEAN, VIRGINIAVINTAGE & GETTHATMONKEYOUTOFME too !!!!!!
Many thanks JEWELS !!!!!
Many thanks WINDWALKER !!! !!!!! !!!
Many thanks MARTIKA !!! !!!! !!!
If you would want a translation of any Hungarian or Czech texts, you can contact me. Of course I'm not very knowledgeable about art, so I can't give you such information like Potkin or Anna G.
I appreciate your help MARTIKA, thanks for your kind offer.
Many thanks AURA and MARTIKA too !!!!
Many thanks BROOCHMAN !!!
Hello
It's been a long time since these comments but I have a figurine, I think from this series
Regards Agnieszka
Poland ????
Would love to see it, Agnieszka !!!
Many thanks VYNIL !!.!.!!
Many thanks NEWFLD !.!!.!.!!.!
Many thanks BRUCE & THOMAS !.!!.!