4 - SANDOR BORTNYIK (1893–1976) COMPOSITION OF AUTOMI. PARIZS LANGJAI (THE FLAMES OF PARIS) (c. 1929). Oil on canvas. 80 x 110.50 cm. Signed. The work is accompanied by a signed certificate from Maurizio Scudiero, director of the Unified Archive for the Catalog of Futurist Works by Fortunato Depero, which certifies its historical provenance and its entry into Fortunato Depero’s collection directly from the artist Sándor Bortnyik.PROVENANCE: Casa Depero, Rovereto; Bassi Collection, Rovereto. This painting (of which another version exists with slight variations in execution) captures a moment from the ballet of the same name performed by the Hungarian State Ballet in Paris in 1929.It was donated by Sándor Bortnyik to Depero in 1933 when the Hungarian artist participated in the Milan Triennale, where Depero was also present with a work (*From the Metropolis to the Mountains*) that, in turn, was a tribute to Bortnyik. The Hungarian artist had “discovered” Depero in 1922 when he exhibited at the “Der Sturm” gallery (and magazine) in Berlin, where Herwart Walden, the director, had shown him some of Depero’s works featuring his famous robots. The two artists (who were, incidentally, nearly the same age—Depero born in 1892, Bortnyik in 1893) were put in touch by Walden, and later planned to meet sometime in 1928, but then Depero left for New York and nothing came of it until 1933. During the 1920s, Bortnyik attended the Bauhaus, keeping a close eye on Schlemmer’s costume designs, but always with Depero’s automata in mind. And in fact, several of Bortnyik’s works were “inspired” by Depero, as is the case with this one, which, upon Depero’s death, was even mistakenly transferred to the Depero Museum but later returned to his widow’s home; in the 1960s, she gave it to an acquaintance, where it has remained ever since.(Maurizio Scudiero). Frame included