Postcards of Judit Reigl

In 2021 forty-seven postcards were gifted to our collection. They were written between spring 1950 and February 1963 by Judit Reigl and addressed to her parents and—after her mother’s death—to her stepfather. Although the postcards often contain references to long letters she had written, as far as we know, only these short messages have survived from this early period of Judit Reigl’s life.

Reigl gives a detailed account of her trials and tribulations following her border crossing and search for a new home after fleeing Hungary, and of those that helped along the way. We can read about her trip to Chartres with her lover, the English sculptor Betty Anderson (who had studied under Henry Moore), to see the “most beautiful windows in the world”. There are accounts of them collecting snail and crab shells on the shores of Brittany, and of the couple making their living decorating a French chateau in Saint Germain-en-Laye with a series of frescoes. When necessary, they took to painting fairground scenery in Roanne. Then a commission for prehistoric frescoes in Souillac took them to Lascaux, where they were fascinated by the prehistoric cave paintings. Later, Reigl gradually began to exhibit and sell her paintings. She also sent some of her small paintings home to her parents so they could sell them, along with some magazines and, of course, some essential items such as soap and clothes.

Her 1954 exhibition was opened by André Breton at La galerie à l'étoile scellée in Paris. Unfortunately, however, no letters survive from that time, only a reference to her art as “great things in the making”. On the postcards we see some friends, Simon Hantai, Tica (Teréz Dávid, who at this time worked with Jean Cocteau and later became a prominent figure in American animation) and a number of figures who are as yet unidentified. The messages she sent home also reveal a lesser-known side of the painter: her strong Catholic faith originating from her upbringing. She wrote to her parents with “infinite love and a childlike warmth”, asking God to bless, help, and protect them. She even had a mass held for the salvation of their souls. In the summer of 1958 and to Judit Reigl’s great joy, Betty converted to Catholicism. It was also during this period, that she painted a portrait of Trappist monk and geographer Charles de Foucauld.

The collection reveal a myriad of details that might be useful for researchers of Judit Reigl’s oeuvre, and for researchers of Hungarian artists in Paris.

/Réka Pálinkás/