István Nagy (28 March 1873 – 13 February 1937) was a Hungarian artist who specialized in landscapes and

figure painting A figure painting is a work of fine art in any of the painting media with the primary subject being the human figure, whether clothed or nude. Figure painting may also refer to the activity of creating such a work. The human figure has been on ...

Biography

A native of

Csíkmindszent Leliceni ( hu, Csíkszentlélek or colloquially ''Szentlélek'', meaning "Holy Spirit", Hungarian pronunciation:) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. Component ...

Harghita County Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county (județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, he was born into a land-owning family. Rather than take up agricultural pursuits, he attended the teacher training college in

Kolozsvár ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

and taught in

Homokmégy Homokmégy ( hr, Mieđa) is a village and municipality in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. Village history Őrjeg raised from a one-time branch of river Danube (Sár, Turján, Red marsh) as a bounda ...

.Biography
@ Őrőkségűnk (Heritage). One of his courses involved drawing in charcoal. Discovering that he had artistic talent, and encouraged by

Gusztáv Kelety Gusztáv Frigyes Kelety, originally Klette (13 December 1834, in Pozsony – 2 September 1902, in Budapest) was a Hungarian painter, graphic artist and art critic. Biography His father, Károly Klette, was a court painter and drawing instructor ...

, he went to study at the

Hungarian University of Fine Arts The Hungarian University of Fine Arts ( Hungarian: ''Magyar Képzőművészeti Egyetem'', MKE) is the central Hungarian art school in Budapest, Andrássy Avenue. It was founded in 1871 as the Hungarian Royal Drawing School ''(Magyar Királyi Mi ...

in Budapest, where his primary teacher was

Bertalan Székely Bertalan Székely (8 May 1835, Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (Now Cluj-Napoca after annexation by Romania following the Treaty of Trianon – 21 August 1910, Budapest) was a Hungarian history and portrait painter who worked in t ...

. He also studied in Munich with

Franz von Lenbach Franz Seraph Lenbach, after 1882, Ritter von Lenbach (13 December 1836 – 6 May 1904), was a German painter known primarily for his portraits of prominent personalities from the nobility, the arts, and industry. Because of his standing in society ...

and obtained a scholarship to study at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in Paris.Brief biography
@ Kieselbach Galleries. In 1902, he held his first exhibition in Csíkszereda, near his hometown. This was followed by a long period of solitude, characterized by extended sojourns for painting and drawing in the surrounding forests. World War I brought him out again. He went to the

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

n and Galician fronts, where he produced bleak portraits of the soldiers. After the war, in 1919, he returned to Budapest. During the 1920s, he and

József Koszta József Koszta (27 March 1861 – 29 July 1949) was a Hungarian painter whose major works include ''Girl with Geraniums'', ''Corn Snappers'' and ''Woman Drying Plates''. Life Born on 27 March 1861, Koszta trained at various schools of art, i ...

toured the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, hu, Alföld or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain. (However, the Great Hungarian plain ...

, painting landscapes and spending time at the art colony in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third ...

. Another exhibition in 1923 first attracted general attention to his work, including praise from the well-known writer

Dezső Kosztolányi Dezső Kosztolányi (; March 29, 1885 – November 3, 1936) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, translator and also a speaker of Esperanto. He wrote in all literary genres, from poetry to essays to theatre plays. Building his own style, he used ...

. He also was fortunate to find a wealthy patron who helped him to organize more exhibitions and sell his paintings. In 1924, he was awarded first prize in an exhibition at the " Szinyei Merse Society". In 1930, his ill health prompted him to settle in Baja with his family. Once there, his mental and physical health began to decline. He eventually contracted cerebral

myelitis Myelitis is inflammation of the spinal cord which can disrupt the normal responses from the brain to the rest of the body, and from the rest of the body to the brain. Inflammation in the spinal cord, can cause the myelin and axon to be damaged re ...

and had a stroke that deprived him of his speech, but he continued to paint until almost his final day.

Selected paintings

File:Portre by István Nagy 1917.jpg, Girl with Yellow Scarf (1917) File:Nagy Backyard 1911.jpg, Backyard (1911) File:Nagy Newspaper Reader 1920.jpg, Newspaper Reader (1920) File:Nagy István Birkák székely hazámból.jpg, From My Homeland (Sheep, 1927) File:István Nagy - Side by side.jpg, Side by Side
(date unknown)

References

External links

István Nagy homepageIstván Nagy 140th anniversary
@ MTVA (Hungarian Television) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagy, Istvan 1873 births 1937 deaths Landscape painters People from Harghita County 20th-century Hungarian painters Hungarian University of Fine Arts alumni Académie Julian alumni Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Hungarian male painters 20th-century Hungarian male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links