Smoking 1969

Editor: So, here we have Endre Balint's "Smoking" from 1969, created with a mixed-media technique including oil paint. It feels...stark, almost confrontational with that bold red background. What strikes you when you look at this? Curator: Well, it's like peering into someone’s memory, isn’t it? Fuzzy edges, simplified forms… a powerful, internalized image made external. That assertive red, for me, isn’t so much confrontational as feverish. Think of the late '60s—politically charged, personally turbulent. Editor: Feverish... I see what you mean. The shapes are so rudimentary; the candlestick, the table or… whatever that is on the right. Curator: It is, and yet, the ambiguity is key, right? Is the black form a phallic symbol, juxtaposed against something almost uterine? Are we looking at the artist grappling with his identity, his anxieties? It’s wonderfully unresolved. The "smoking," title... where does that lead you? It’s not exactly literal. Editor: True, there is only some flower like shapes that could mean something about it... Perhaps that state of mind that it represents...a mind that is altered in a certain way. What do you think is most interesting of the technique implemented here? Curator: Precisely! The texture too—look at that fabric-like quality in the grayed area—Balint is deliberately playing with surfaces. Creating depth where you’d least expect it. Layers upon layers of meaning, like the smoke itself! I am really intrigued that even using just basic forms and basic resources such as oil and mixed media, he reaches such depth and makes the viewer dive into the painting almost psychologically...Do you have any closing ideas regarding the artwork? Editor: Definitely, you have a point. It all makes for such a striking image that is not at all realistic. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure. Always rewarding to explore with fresh eyes.