Nickolas Muray (born Miklós Mandl; 15 February 1892 – 2 November 1965) was a Hungarian-born American photographer and Olympic saber fencer.
Early and personal life
Muray was born in
Szeged
Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...
, Hungary, and was
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. His father Samu Mandl was a postal worker, and his mother Klara Lovit was a homemaker.
[''I Will Never Forget You: Frida Kahlo and Nickolas Muray'' - Salomon Grimberg, Nickolas Muray]
/ref> In 1894 his family moved to Budapest. He attended a graphic arts school 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 ...
, where he studied lithography, photoengraving, and photography. After earning an International Engraver's Certificate, Muray took a three-year course in color photoengraving in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where, among other things, he learned to make color filters. At the end of his course he went to work for the publishing company Ullstein.
His first wife was Hungarian literary figure Ilona Fulop, but they divorced.[Muray, Nickolas – US Fencing Hall of Fame]
/ref> He then married Leja Gorska in 1921, but they also divorced. Muray in June 1930 married Monica O’Shea, who was in the advertising business, and they ultimately divorced. On 23 July 1942, he married his last wife, Margaret Schwab. He had a decade-long on-and-off liaison with artist Frida Kahlo
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...
.
Art career
In 1913 Muray sailed to New York City, and was able to find work as a color printer in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
By 1920, Muray had opened a portrait studio at his home in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, while still working at his union job as an engraver. In 1921 he received a commission from ''Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' to do a portrait of the Broadway actress Florence Reed
Florence Reed (January 10, 1883 – November 21, 1967) was an American stage and film actress. She is remembered for several outstanding stage productions, including ''The Shanghai Gesture'', ''The Lullaby'', ''The Yellow Ticket'' and ''The ...
; soon after he was having photographs published each month in Harper's Bazaar, and was able to give up his engraving job. In 1922 he also made a portrait of the dancer Desha Delteil
Desha Delteil (March 18, 1899 – July 17, 1980) was a Slovenia-born dancer and artists' model.
Biography
She was born Desha Eva Podgoršek in Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ljubljana, Slovenia), emigrated to the US with her sister ...
.
Muray quickly became recognized as an important portrait photographer, and his subjects included most of the celebrities of New York City. In 1926, '' Vanity Fair'' sent Muray to London, Paris, and Berlin to photograph celebrities, and in 1929 hired him to photograph movie stars in Hollywood. He also did fashion and advertising work. Muray's images were published in many other publications, including ''Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', ''Ladies' Home Journal
''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...
'', and ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
Between 1920 and 1940, Muray made over 10,000 portraits. His 1938 portrait of Frida Kahlo
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...
, made while Kahlo sojourned in New York, attending her exhibit at the Julien Levy Gallery
Julien Levy (1906–1981) was an art dealer and owner of Julien Levy Gallery in New York City, important as a venue for Surrealists, avant-garde artists, and American photographers in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Levy was born in New York. Aft ...
, became the best known and loved portrait made by Muray. Muray and Kahlo were at the height of a ten-year love affair in 1939 when the portrait was made. Their affair had started in 1931, after Muray was divorced from his second wife and shortly after Kahlo's marriage to Mexican muralist painter Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
. It outlived Muray's third marriage and Kahlo's divorce and remarriage to Rivera by one year, ending in 1941. Muray wanted to marry, but when it became apparent that Kahlo wanted Muray as a lover, not a husband, Muray took his leave for good and married his fourth wife, Peggy (Margaret) Muray. He and Kahlo remained good friends until her death, in 1954.
After the market crash in 1929, Muray turned away from celebrity and theatrical portraiture, and become a pioneering commercial photographer, famous for his creation of many of the conventions of color advertising. He was considered the master of the three-color carbro process. His last important public portraits were of Dwight David Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
in the 1950s.
During World War II, he taught photography at New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
.A Finding Aid to the Nickolas Muray papers, 1910-1978 , Digitized Collection , Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
/ref>
Fencing career
Muray competed for the United States at the 1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...
and 1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...
(when he came in fourth in sabre team) in the sabre
A sabre ( French: sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...
fencing events. He won the US Team Saber National Championship in 1927 and 1928, and the National Saber Championship in 1929. In 1935 and 1936 he won the National Foil Team Championship. He won the Metropolitan Saber Fencing Championship in 1934, 1942, 1950, and 1951. In addition to the NYAC, he fenced for the Washington Square Fencing Club, the Fencers Club
The Fencers Club in Midtown, Manhattan, New York City, is the oldest fencing club in the Western Hemisphere. It is a member of the Metropolitan Division of the U.S. Fencing Association. Established in Manhattan in 1883, it has evolved into a 501(c ...
, and Salle Santelli, representing each one during his career.
Muray represented the New York Athletic Club
The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...
and was a lifelong fencer for the club. He suffered a heart attack on 9 February 1961, four years prior to his death while fencing at the club, and was saved through the efforts of a fellow fencer and physician Dr. Barry Pariser who performed heart massage
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...
. On the second occasion in the very same fencing room Muray was struck again in a final and fatal attack on 2 November 1965. There is a plaque in his honor on display at the fencing room dedicated to his memory. In his lifetime he had won over 60 fencing medals.
See also
* List of select Jewish fencers
References
External links
Frida Kahlo images on the Nickolas Muray site
Nickolas Muray gallery
by George Eastman House
The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...
A stamp with the Ivan Mestrovic portrait by Nickolas Muray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muray, Nickolas
1892 births
1965 deaths
20th-century American photographers
American male foil fencers
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Olympic fencers of the United States
Fencers at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Fencers at the 1932 Summer Olympics
People from Szeged
Jewish male foil fencers
Jewish American sportspeople
20th-century American Jews
Jewish male sabre fencers
American male sabre fencers
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States