INSPIRED

Jan. 12, 2011


VICTIM OF FATAL
FIRE REMEMBERED AS A
TALENTED PAINTER, SCULPTOR.

INSPIRED

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

George Retkes prepared to work on a self-portrait in his grandfather’s Union Township home.

Nicholas L. Berbenczy noticed.

“I set up mirror and easel and just went at it,” the St. Petersburg, Fla., resident recalled. “He would come by every now and then and give me some comments.

The artistic appraisal was direct and given in Hungarian: What the heck was he doing? That looked awful. Why was he using that color?

“He did have valuable advice,” Retkes said of his experience in 2006. “And if I didn’t agree with it, I would assert my own opinion.”

A prominent porcelain painter, Berbenczy did not lack for talent, confidence or opinions.

The 90-year-old artist died of smoke inhalation during a house fire that occurred around 5:15 p.m. Jan. 3. The state police fire marshal is investigating the cause.

Specializing in handpainted ceramics, Berbenczy earned the status of master painter while in Hungary. He arrived in the United States in 1969 and used his skills at the former Shenanago China and the Franklin Mint.

“He leaned toward the realistic, picture-perfect kind of things,” his grandson said. “That’s very much what he was involved with.

“He was very skilled in his trade.”

Berbenczy designed plates for presidents and focused on his gifts as a painter and sculptor.

“In this area, nobody is doing what I am doing,” the Cameron Avenue resident told the New Castle News in a March 2001 interview.

Retkes had graduated from a visual and performing arts school in Florida when he traveled north with his father, Gabor, for a two-month stay.

“He showed me some things here and there,” he said of his grandfather. “We talked about different art-related matters.

“I liked hearing the things he had to say and how he reacted toward certain works of art compared to other ones.”

Before arriving, Retkes had heard stories about the art displayed within the small, two-bedroom home.

“Covered from floor to ceiling, every wall had plates and paintings,” he said. “Every drawer was full of little sculptures and stuff.

“When we weren’t busy, I spent a lot of time looking around. It’s pretty crazy to see that magnitude of work.”

Berbenczy didn’t permit retirement to hamper his creativity.

“He was 90 but an active 90,” said Zoltan Novak, a friend and fellow Hungarian. “He wasn’t one to sit around and do nothing.

“He (had) a lot of unfinished business.”

Novak, who lived nearby on Grandview Avenue, said Berbenczy shifted his emphasis. Painting porcelain proved difficult in his later years.

“His hands, once in a while, started to shake,” Novak said. “If he made a mistake, the whole thing was ruined, and he would have to (trash) it.

“He focused on painting pictures.”

Novak said he and his longtime friend met for coffee two to three times a week. On the day Berbenczy died, the pair spoke for 90 minutes before Novak left around 4:30 p.m.

“(Berbenczy) said he was lazy and that he had to go back to work.”