Gustave Miklos, also written Gusztáv Miklós and Miklós Gusztáv (30 June 1888, in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

– 5 March 1967, in

Oyonnax Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Ha ...

) was a sculptor, painter, illustrator and designer of Hungarian origin. An influential sculptor involved with Cubism and early developments in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

, Miklos exhibited at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

and the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

during the 1910s and 1920s, and in 1925 showed at the

International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (french: Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes) was a World's fair held in Paris, France, from April to October 1925. It was designed by the Fren ...

; the exhibition from which the term "Art Deco" was derived. He became a naturalized French citizen in 1922, and a member of The French Union of Modern Artists (UAM) in 1930. In addition to his painting and sculptural works, Miklos illustrated over thirty books, designed close to 200 bookbindings, numerous posters, in addition to furniture designs.

Early life

Gustave Miklos was the second of four children. At age seven his teachers had already noticed his burgeoning talent, and persuaded his parents to educate their children further. From 1904 to 1906 Miklos studied under Kimnach László (1857–1906) at the Hungarian Royal National School of Arts and Crafts, where he met

Joseph Csaky Joseph Csaky (also written Josef Csàky, Csáky József, József Csáky and Joseph Alexandre Czaky) (18 March 1888 – 1 May 1971) was a Hungarian avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic arts, graphic artist, best known for his early partici ...

.Christiane Patkaï, ''Gustave Miklos: sa vie et son œuvre de sculpteur, mémoire de maitrise'', Paris,1978 A musician and music lover, he played the violin and harp. He traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1909, shortly after Csaky, and settled at La Ruche in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

. Shortly thereafter Miklos exhibited at the

and the

. There he formed close associations with Csaky,

Archipenko Arkhypenko ( uk, Архипенко), also transliterated as Arkhipenko, Archipenko, is a Ukrainian-language family name of patronymic derivation from the Slavic first name Arkhyp/Arkhip (). The Belarusian-language version is Arkhipienka. The sur ...

and Léger, artists at the forefront of the Parisian

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

. While in Paris he was exposed to the works of French modernists

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, and probably

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Parisian years

Miklos frequented the Académie de La Palette, where he learned

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

techniques. There he studying under

Henri Le Fauconnier Henri Victor Gabriel Le Fauconnier (July 5, 1881 – December 25, 1946) was a French Cubist painter born in Hesdin. Le Fauconnier was seen as one of the leading figures among the Montparnasse Cubists. At the 1911 Salon des Indépendants Le Fauco ...

, and later entered the studio of

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

. He visited the group of artists, poets and writers of the

Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

. Shortly after the

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

in New York, Miklos participated in the ''Exhibition of Cubist and Futurist Pictures'', Boggs & Buhl Department Store, Pittsburgh, July 1913. The exhibition included works by Jean Metzinger,

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

Jacques Villon Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and Abstract art, abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, Damville, Eure, ...

, Fernand Léger, Pierre Dumont and Arpad Kesmarky. Sponsored by the

Gimbel Brothers Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the comp ...

department store, the Cubist and Futurist show toured Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York from May through the summer of 1913. Walter Pach, knowing practically all the artists in the exhibition, probably had something to do with the organization of the show. The following year he exhibited three paintings with the Cubists at the

in Paris. Late July 1914 he participated with

Ricciotto Canudo Ricciotto Canudo (; 2 January 1877, Gioia del Colle – 10 November 1923, Paris) was an early Italian film theoretician who lived primarily in France. In 1913 he published a bimonthly avant-garde magazine entitled ''Montjoie!'', promoting Cubism ...

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European mo ...

, Jean Lambert-Rucki, on a call for foreign artists to engage in the military of the side of the French. Under the pseudonym of "Rameau", Miklos is mobilized with the Armée française d'Orient, along with his friend Jean Rucki, who adopted the nickname "Lambert". During the World War I, he was posted at Bizerte, Tunisia and

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Greece. There he discovered an intense color palette and ornamental richness previously unknown to him that would affect all his artistic endeavors. He was assigned with Lambert-Rucki to aerial reconnaissance missions and subsequently to the Archeological Service at the

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki ( el, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης ) is a museum in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece. It holds and interprets artifacts from the Prehistoric, Archaic, Classical ...

, Greece, where both Miklos and Lambert-Rucki conducted excavations. The artists

Paul Jouve Pierre-Paul Jouve (Marlotte, Seine-et-Marne, 16 March 1878 - Paris, 13 May 1973) was a French painter, sculptor and illustrator. He was notable for his paintings and sculptures of Africa's animals. He was first recipient of the Prix Abd-el-Ti ...

and Jean Goulden were also stationed in Salonika.Family Archives During the war Miklos drew in his sketchbook and painted watercolors. In February 1919 he exhibited at the ''Exposition des artistes d'Orient'', Athens. He returned to Paris in the fall of 1919. His attic studio at

Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris Rue Saint-Jacques is a street in the Latin Quarter of Paris which lies along the ''cardo'' of Roman Lutetia. Boulevard Saint-Michel, driven through this old quarter of Paris by Baron Haussmann, relegated the roughly parallel Rue Saint-Jacques ...

, was flooded by rain and many of his paintings were damaged. Miklos further developed his technical skills at ''Ateliers Brugier'', a lacquer workshop in Paris. In

Jean Dunand Jean Dunand (1877–1942) was a Swiss and French painter, sculptor, metal craftsman and interior designer during the Art Deco period. He was particularly known for his lacquered screens and other art objects. Biography Jules-John Dunand was bor ...

's studio his interested turned towards metal panel-beating, enameling and rock-crystals. During this time he associated with the Paresian avant-garde. Subsequently, Miklos devoted most of his time to sculpture, a medium in which his style became less convoluted, purist in nature, retaining an element of mystery. Miklos personally supervised the casting of his bronzes and the application of various patinas, so that light would reflect desirably off their surfaces. In 1921, on the initiative of the French art dealer Léonce Rosenberg, three public auctions were held over the course of two days. Many Cubist works were sold.Kubisme, ''Veiling 19 oktober 1921''
Five works by Miklos were presented on Wednesday 19 October 1921 at the last public auction with 233 works in Amsterdam, entitled ''Oeuvres de l'école française moderne. Collection réunie par L'Effort Moderne'' (Leonce Rosenberg), Paris, L'Hotel de Ventes de Roos (sous la direction de A. Mak), Amsterdam, 1921. Also in the catalog of this auction were eight plates inserted with black and white images in a separate folder. In 1923 Miklos exhibited in a group show at the Léonce Rosenberg's Galerie de L'Effort Moderne.

Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, dominated by a synthetic style of ...

and

Louis Marcoussis Louis Marcoussis, formerly Ludwik Kazimierz Wladyslaw Markus or Ludwig Casimir Ladislas Markus, (1878 or 1883, Łódź – October 22, 1941, Cusset) was a painter and engraver of Polish origin who lived in Paris for much of his life and became ...

collaborated with Miklos in 1927 on the decoration of Studio House of the French fashion designer Jacques Doucet, rue Saint-James,

Neuilly Neuilly (, ) is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as we ...

. Doucet had seen the work of Miklos at the 1920 Salon des Indépendants. Doucet was also an art collector of Post-Impressionist and

paintings. He purchased ''

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon ''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'' (''The Young Ladies of Avignon'', originally titled ''The Brothel of Avignon'') is a large oil painting created in 1907 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The work, part of the permanent collection of the Museum o ...

'' directly from Picasso's studio.

Bibliography

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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miklos, Gustave 1888 births 1967 deaths Abstract sculptors Art Deco sculptors Austro-Hungarian people Cubist artists Hungarian sculptors Modern sculptors Artists from Budapest 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors Art Deco artists French abstract artists Hungarian emigrants to France

Early life

Parisian years

Further reading

Bibliography

References

External links