 |
Andras Kaidor, 60, is a
painter. He and his wife, Sally, 56, a nurse, travel
together looking at opera houses for his work. They live in Devon |
| Homelife | |||
| Going Places | |||
| How painting opera houses around the world
has brought a new lease of life. by Angela Neustatter |
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|
Andras Kaidor, 60, is a
painter. He and his wife, Sally, 56, a nurse, travel
together looking at opera houses for his work. They live in Devon |
| You can't
help thinking that Sally and Andras have as good a
formula for keeping a marriage alive and stimulating as
you could find. They talk enthusiastically about their
time spent skimming through Europe from Marseilles to St
Petersburg, Barcelona to Venice in their well-worn car,
stopping at enticing watering spots, meeting all kinds of
people along the way, and viewing opera houses in the
countries they visit as part of Andras's work. But then Sally raises curved eyebrows above kohl-rimmed eyes, giving her the look of a glamorous Thirties vamp, and laughs, 'Actually we're normally rowing. 1 navigate and you could say we have disagreements over the way 1 do it. There have been times when the car has been stopped and I've told Andras to get out. Times when our journeys are fraught with angst.' Andras gives his slow smile and murmurs, 'Would you say fraught...?' But Sally explains how they balance aggro with treats: 'I choose the hotels. 1 look for places that sound special in a modest way, because we're always on the tightest budget.' But there are the indulgences, too: 'One time we were in Lisbon and it was searingly hot. 1 felt 1 couldn't stand it any more so we booked into this obviously luxurious hotel.' Andras came to Britain in 1956 as a refugee student from his native Hungary. He practised architecture here for 20 years, but became more and more depressed, longing to get back to the art he had done in Hungary. Sally remembers, 'He came home one day and said, "I'm giving up work." 1 panicked.' Andras recalls, 'We opened a restaurant, Sally's bistro. She cooked and 1 was the waiter. The idea was, we would just open in the evening and 1 would have time to paint all day. In fact, 1 had to peel potatoes...' That lasted three years, but Andras was frustrated because it still did not give him time to paint. It was then that he started to paint buildings and Sally took work, which she still does part-tirne, as an auxiliary nurse at the local hospital: |
'It was to
help with finances but also because 1 want to look after
old people. At first it was not easy to talk about her
kyork at home. 'I would return, perhaps 'caving laid out
two of my favourite )atients and feeling very upset, to
find , Andras scratching at paper and I would think,
"What is this man doing?" All that is better now. Sally has learnt to keep her emotions in the hospital, and taking breaks and sharing the experience of seeing opera houses has made her 'Andras's greatest critic but also an enormous admirer. I know the work that goes into his art, and at best he produces stunningly beautiful pictures.' The Book of European Opera Houses (Antique Collector's Club), a collection of Andras's finely detailed portraits, came after a commission to paint a series of London theatres a decade ago, and he has done 40 opera houses in all from Europe and America with shows here and in New York. He and Sally met at a party 30 years ago, but both were married with young families at the time. In due course Sally and he started living together and then married. He left Yorkshire where he was living and went to Dartmouth where he and Sally now live in a terrace house with Andras's gallery downstairs. Suddenly, Sally's voice cracks and there are tears: 'To do that 1 left my children and 1 never stop thinking it was a terrible thing. Of course they took it badly. But it does seem to have worked out all right - not that this excuses me - because they were brought up by their father and a super stepmother who was much better at being his wife than 1 was. 1 think my kids do understand. They used to stay with Andras and me in the holidays and live a rather wacky life compared with their other one in Yorkshire. Fortunately my children have always adored Andras and 1 adore his children.' What next? Andras has a list of 200 opera houses worldwide and intends to paint them all. It will mean much more travelling and, Sally says with a coquettish look at Andras, 'probably a lot of rowing'. 'Maybe,' Andras says, 'but a journey on my own is only half a journey. The thing is sharing the experiences - good and bad.' |