Allegro Barbaro, Béla Bartók et la modernité hongroise, 1905-1920

At a time when Hungary gives no signs of opening, it is good to remember that the country knew a period of true avant-gard excitement just a century ago. This lovely catalogue-object (of which the colors - green and red – play with the Hungarian flag) accompanies a well-targeted exhibition at the musée d’Orsay (until 5 January). The title comes from a well-known piece by Bartók, written in 1911, and it shows that the ferment of change actually affected all the art forms. Hungary adopted the Parisian model and at the time had its Fauvists, its Cubists, its first abstract artists, who reinterpreted the motifs of their folklore or imported the themes of Toulouse-Lautrec and Matisse. Their interpreters are unfortunately little-known, except maybe for Rippl-Ronai. So this is a rare opportunity to learn about Béla Czóbel, Odon Márffy, Sándor Bortnyik or Róbert Berény.

• Allegro Barbaro, Béla Bartók et la modernité hongroise, 1905-1920, Musée d’Orsay/Hazan, 272 p, €40 (in French).