Lajos Tihanyi Painting At Judit Virág Gallery Auction

Lajos Tihanyi's 1908 painting entitled ‘Market in Baia Mare’ will be one of the featured works of art at the spring auction of the Judit Virág Gallery, the organizers told MTI on Monday.

They pointed out that the work of art was thought to have disappeared for almost 100 years, but the lurking work turned up a decade and a half ago and has since been regarded as one of the gems of Hungarian modernism. The Tihanyi painting, along with the other pieces in the auction, will be on display free of charge for two weeks from May 5.

Lajos Tihanyi's paintings are in great demand all over the world. The works of this outstanding figure of Hungarian modernism are worth more and more, the statement said, recalling that the artist's Landscape with Margaret Bridge went for as much as HUF 130 million in 2023 at the winter auction of the Judith Virág Gallery. And in 2021, Pont Saint Michel changed hands for no less than EUR 220 million, also at the auction of the Judit Virág Gallery.

As noted, that painting was also painted in 1908, as was the painting Market in Baia Mare, which the painter painted on his return to the artistic world of the town of Baia Mare (now in Romania). It was pointed out that the artist, with his characteristic humor, depicts the market when there is no market.

"Baia Mare was an excellent place for Tihanyi to put to good use what he had seen and experienced in Paris and to find his own way. The composition of this painting, painted in bold, wild colors, is bold, with colors reminiscent of the great French fauve masters. It is a true gem of modernism," art historian Judit Virág, co-owner of the Judit Virág Gallery, was quoted as saying in the statement.

It was added that the painting has suffered an unfortunate fate. It was thought to have been lost for a century after its creation, but later turned up in an exhibition. Since then, it has been a fragile piece of the Tihanyi oeuvre.