Portrait of Three Children (The Pejacsevics Children)

One of the first biographers of Sándor Kozina, Endre Csatkai identified the key to the painter’s success thus: “One may wonder about the basis for Kozina’s success. A few years ago, one of his most beautiful works, a portrait of Ferenc Zalabéri Horváth was on view in Debrecen’s Déri Museum, in the company of some inferior portraits by local painters: it was an excellent opportunity to see how Kozina’s art towers above these small-town daubers. In contrast with the flat, lifeless faces, those who are represented by Kozina are pleasant people, full of expression, life and soul; unlike others, he paid little attention to anything apart from the face, but in that face the soul was concentrated. A pleasant harmony of colours. The faces excellently remodelled. Barabás pays more heed to the external appearance of his models, with an abundance of gala dresses, while Kozina values inner life more.” Compare this description with the painting on the wall, and you will be ready to acknowledge Csatkai’s point. Despite the classic, academic presentation, the three figures before the natural backdrop testify to the painter’s elegant skills. The three children of the Pejacsevics family, which was politically very influential at the time, were eventually immortalized by Kozina’s paintbrush.