Kernstok Nude Boy Leaning against a Tree 1911

Károly Kernstok (23 December 1873, 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 ...

– 9 June 1940, in Budapest) is a Hungarian painter. In the early twentieth century, he was known for being among the leading groups of Hungarian painters known as the "Neos" and The Eight (1909–1918), before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was particularly influenced by the work of

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 draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

, as may be seen in his monumental painting ''Riders at the Waterside'' (1910). Kernstok studied in Munich and Paris, and practiced as an artist mostly in Budapest. After the fall of the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) (due to an early mistranslation, it became widely known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English-language sources ( ...

in 1919, he emigrated to Berlin. He lived and worked there until 1926. His work is collected in the

Hungarian National Gallery The Hungarian National Gallery (also known as Magyar Nemzeti Galéria), was established in 1957 as the national art museum. It is located in Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. Its collections cover Hungarian art in all genres, including the works ...

, among other institutions. With the centenary of The Eight's first exhibit under that name, commemorative exhibits have been mounted in Hungary and Austria in 2011 and 2012.

Early life and education

Károly Kernstok was born in 1873 in Budapest, where he lived most of his life. Attracted to art, at age 19 he went to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1892, where he studied with

Simon Hollósy Simon Hollósy; (2 February 1857, Máramarossziget (now Sighetu Marmației, Romania) – 8 May 1918, Técső (now Tiachiv, Ukraine) was a Hungarian painter of Armenian ancestry; original name was: Choriban (Korbuly).Gudenus János József:Ör ...

. From 1893 to 1896, he studied 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 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. At the time, Budapest did not have an academy of fine art.

Career

After returning to Hungary in 1897, Kernstok painted the ''Agitátor'', a picture with

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

implications. Later he painted scenes of peasant life, often in bold and glowing colours related to the

Fauvist Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

movement in France. In 1905 he settled in

Nyergesújfalu Nyergesújfalu (german: Neudorf; la, Crumerum) is a town in Komárom-Esztergom County, Hungary, in the Central Transdanubia region. The city, located near the river Danube, is an ancient site of habitation. It was located on the Crumerum, a maj ...

, where he had inherited an estate. He was considered a leader of the "Neos", a group of artists with radical artistic views, working against the naturalism of the

Nagybánya artists' colony The Nagybánya artists' colony was an art colony in Nagybánya, a town in eastern Hungary that became Baia Mare in Romania after World War I. The colony started as a summer retreat for artists, mainly painters from Simon Hollósy's ''szabadiskola' ...

. Fellow "Neo" artists included

Béla Czóbel Béla Czóbel (4 September 1883 – 30 January 1976) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian Painting, painter, known for his association with The Eight (Nyolcak), The Eight in the early 20th century in Budapest. They were known for introducing Post-Im ...

Béla Iványi-Grünwald Béla Iványi-Grünwald (6 May 1867 – 24 September 1940) was a Hungarian painter, a leading member of the Nagybánya artists' colony and founder of the Kecskemét artists' colony. Life Born in Som, Iványi-Grünwald began his artistic ...

, Vilmos Perlrott-Csaba,

Lajos Tihanyi Lajos Tihanyi (29 October 1885 – 11 June 1938) was a Hungarian painter and lithographer who achieved international renown working outside his country, primarily in Paris, France. After emigrating in 1919, he never returned to Hungary, even on a ...

and

Sándor Ziffer Sándor Ziffer (May 5, 1880, in Eger – September 8, 1962, in Baia Mare) was a Hungarian painter characterized by his strong decorative paintings and use of definite contours and colour in his works. After 1906 he worked in Nagybánya where he ...

. Some had studied briefly at Nagybánya, but they were influenced by the French painters, particularly

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

and

. In 1906 Kernstok left Hungary a second time for Paris, where he was impressed by the style of

. After his return, he influenced development of the painters called The Eight (1909–1912), who included Tihanyi,

Róbert Berény Róbert Berény (18 March 1887 – 10 September 1953) was a Hungarian painter, one of the ''avant-garde'' group known as The Eight who introduced cubism and expressionism to Hungarian art in the early twentieth century before the First World W ...

Dezső Czigány Dezső Czigány (1 June 1883 – 31 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter who was born and died in Budapest. He was one of The Eight (1909–1918), who first exhibited under that name in Budapest in 1911 and were influential in introducing cubi ...

Ödön Márffy Ödön Márffy (30 November 1878 – 3 December 1959) was a Hungarian painter, one of The Eight in Budapest, credited with bringing cubism, Fauvism and expressionism to the country. Biography Following a short basic training, he obtained a g ...

, Dezső Orbán, and

Bertalan Pór Bertalan Pór (4 November 1880 – 28 August 1964) was a Hungarian painter associated with the development of modernist Hungarian art. He was a member of The Eight, a movement among several Hungarian painters in the early twentieth century who ...

. The sculptors Márk Vedres and Vilmos Fémes Beck were also associated with them."Painting and Sculpture in the First Half of 20th Century"
Hungarian National Gallery, accessed 15 Sep 2010 The Eight embraced the radical intellectual movements in the early 20th century, which was reflected in Budapest in both literature and music. They worked with such writers and composers included

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady, 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th century ...

and

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

. The Eight's style was quite complex. They worked with the rationalism of cubists, the decorative use of strong color as seen in the '' Fauves,'' and the emotional depth of

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

. Kernstok's "monumental painting," ''Riders at the Waterside'' (1910) shows the influence of Matisse. Bertalan Pór's ''Family'' (1909) represented another aspect of the group's work. Kernstok's ''Nude Male Leaning against a Tree'' (1911) showed the influence of the Fauvists in his use of brilliant color. After the fall in 1919 of the brief

, Kernstok emigrated to Berlin, as did many other artists. He lived and worked there until 1926. He returned to Budapest, where he remained for the rest of his life. ''The Last Supper'' (1921), an expressionist picture, was influenced by the artistic currents in Germany which he saw during his time there. He also painted some naturalist landscapes in this period."Károly Kernstok"
Fine Arts in Hungary: from the beginning to the mid-20th century, accessed 29 January 2013 In the last period of his life, Kernstok became interested in

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

painting, and completed ''The Rape of St. Helen'' (1933) and ''Burial'' (1934). He may also have seen works by the painter

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 ...

, who was also exploring Etruscan and classical monumentalism. Kernstok's graphic works, together with his copper

engravings Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

, are also considered significant. In addition to his painting, Kernstok often lectured and wrote articles about art, which were published in art journals and newspapers, extending his influence. During the Soviet period in Hungary following World War II, his work was celebrated for his paintings of peasants and workers. A major retrospective exhibition of his work was held in Budapest in 1951.

Legacy

In the 21st century, there has been renewed interest among curators and scholars in the early modernists in Hungary. Exhibitions in Hungary and Vienna have marked the centenary of The Eight's first exhibit under that name in 1911. * 2011, ''The Eight: A Centenary Exhibition,'' Janus Pannonius Museum,

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

, 10 December 2010 - 27 March 2011 * 2012, ''The Eight. Hungary's Highway in the Modern'' (Die Acht. Ungarns Highway in die Moderne), 12 September 2012 - 2 December 2012, Bank Austria Kunstforum,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, collaboration with Museum of Fine Arts and Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest.Bécs, Kunstforum: ''Die Acht. Ungarns Highway in die Moderne''
2012, Bank Austria Kunstforum, accessed 29 January 2013

Gallery

Exhibitions

* 1911, Művészházban * 1917, Ernst Múzeum * 1922, Kassai Múzeum * 1928, Ernst Múzeum * 1951, ''Károly Kernstok'', Emlékkiállítás (Memorial exhibition), Fővárosi Népművelési Központ

Works

* ''Agitátor'', 1897 * ''Hajóvontatók'', 1897 * ''Szilvaszedők'', 1901 * ''Lovasok a vízparton'', 1910 * ''Zivatar'', 1919 * ''Szép Heléna elrablása'', 1933 * ''Sírbatétel'', 1934

References

External links and sources

"Károly Kernstok"
Fine Arts in Hungary: from the beginning to the mid-20th century
"Károly Kernstok"
Hungarian National Gallery (in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kernstok, Karoly Artists from Budapest 1873 births 1940 deaths 20th-century Hungarian painters Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery Hungarian expatriates in France Hungarian expatriates in Germany Hungarian male painters 20th-century Hungarian male artists