A little-seen work by Hungarian genius Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka, Child in Red, will be on display at the Art & Antique fair at Bálna Budapest between Thursday and Sunday, 3-6 March, before being sold. This will only be the fourth time that it has been on view – the painting was released from a private collection in 1994. Arguably Hungary’s most famous painter, Csontváry created his most notable works in the early 1900s. In 2006, his painting Rendezvous sold for €1 million in Budapest.

Csontváry’s Child in Red was painted in 1894 and contains a secret. No-one knows exactly who is the strange-looking, slightly grumpy youngster being depicted. According to art historians, there are two possible solutions: either Csontváry painted the offspring of someone he knew or it is his sister Bella, who died in 1863, and is honoured here.

Bella died in a fire that raged through the painter’s home town of Sabinov, now in Slovakia. The use of red may be significant. The mystery behind the picture is deepened by Csontváry’s peculiar, mystical world of colours, and the child’s gaze, penetrating and enchanting. The fact that the youngster faces the viewer straight on is unusual in the first place.

The painting can now be admired for four days at the Judit Virág Stand at the Art & Antique fair. The same gallery will then handle its sale. 


Exhibition: 3-6 March, Bálna Budapest (1093 Budapest, Fővám tér 11-12). For more details see here.

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