Reth Alfred

Biography

Alfréd Réth, born Alfréd Roth on February 29, 1884 in Budapest and died in September 1966 in Paris, is a Hungarian painter naturalized French, recognized as one of the major figures of the Avant-garde and the School of Paris. Eighth child of a modest family, he began his career as a bank employee before discovering his passion for painting thanks to friends, notably László Mednyánszky. From 1903, he became involved in the artistic colony of Nagybánya, where he worked under Károly Ferenczy. In 1905 he moved to Paris, where he frequented the studio of J.E. Blanche in Montmartre. His interaction with artists such as Jean Buhot and Maurice Esmein fueled his interest in oriental art and Cubism. Réth exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, rubbing shoulders with figures such as Matisse and Rouault. Interned as a citizen of an enemy country during World War I, he returned to an intense creative life during the Roaring Twenties. In the 1920s, he turned to abstraction, exploring compositions of lines and curves. A member of the Abstraction - Création group in 1931, he promoted abstract art through exhibitions. After World War II, he participated in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. At the end of his life, although he remained active in abstraction, he reintegrated elements of figuration and collage into his work. In 1966, a retrospective of his work was held in Chicago.