ROBERT BERÉNY (1887-1953)
Modiano.
Flat fields of color and rendered tendrils of smoke. That's all the Hungarian artist needed to promote Modiano, manufacturers of cigarette papers and tobacco. Add a few geometric elements a circular monocle, a cylindrical cigarette and what you've got is the coolest vision of addiction you're ever likely to encounter. What's truly amazing is how much Berény achieved with graphically speaking so little. A remarkable achievement for a problematic product. After the failed revolution in 1919, Berény returned from Berlin in 1926 and Hungarian posters once again flourished. No doubt some of the German influences, most especially the 'Neue Sachlichkeit' (object posters), were fresh in the minds of the returning Hungarian artists. As György Horváth makes clear: advertisers wanted 'a designer who could give their advertising campaigns, products and firms a new 'face' and who could announce loud and clear that the use of Modiano cigarette paper, for example, is the trademark of modern man.' And he finds that Berény 's work had 'something very Hungarian' to it and was 'of a more serious, balanced and objective state of mind [than his compatriot Sandor Bortnyik], but his graphic elements and use of color was characteristically Hungarian' (Intro).
Athenaeum, Budapest

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