Pal Homonai ( sr-Cyrl, Пал Хомонај; Irig, May, 5th 1904 –

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 th ...

, June, 12th 2010), was a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n- Hungarian

Naïve art Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...

painter.

Biography

Homonai was born to a peasant family in Irig on 28 May 1922. He spent his childhood on pastures of the villages in

Srem Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the ex ...

, which was to become the primary source of his inspiration. He mastered the carpentry in 1938 and moved to

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, where he practiced various forms of the

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pro ...

intarsia Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The start of the practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique of intarsia inlays sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pear ...

, etc. He began doing painting in 1964. His first independent exhibition at Đuro Salaj Gallery in Belgrade in 1968, was, among others, visited by Oto Bihalji-Merin and Bolumil Karlavaris who wrote first commendable reviews. He lived and worked in

until 1992, when he moved to

where he stayed until his death on 6 December 2010.

Artistic style and work

He portrays rural subjects, but also the facades of old town buildings. With his original painting style, he creates stylized compositions of pastures, wheat fields, country fairs, harvests and weddings in various seasons. Like someone observing the distance from the cliff of his artistic mind, he creates a panoramic view. There is a lot of free space in his paintings where life events are often synthesized like miniatures. By shifting from hills to planes, from striped to dotty furrows, from human to animal figures, he stresses the sound and rhythm of his compositions. Н. Крстић, ''Наивна и маргинална уметност Србије'', МНМУ, Јагодина, 2007

Exhibitions and awards

His paintings are on permanent display of galleries and museums worldwide. Great and representative collections of his works are i
Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art (MNMA)

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, Serbia. He was many times awarded for his work. At the ''Eleventh International Biennial of Naïve and Marginal Art'', o
MNMA
Jagodina, 2003, he received the ''Award for Entire Artistic Work''. Homonai Pal, Konji na paši.jpg, ''Horses on Pastures'', 1968
tempera on hardboard, 70x40cm
MNMA, Jagodina Homonai Pal, Konji, volovi i devojke.jpg, ''Horses, Oxen and Girls'', n. a.
tempera on canvas, 70x40cm
MNMA, Jagodina Homonai Pal, Vašar.jpg, ''Fair'', 1969
tempera on hardboard, 70x50cm
MNMA, Jagodina

References

Literature

* М. Бошковић; М. Маширевић,''Самоуки ликовни уметници у Србији'',Торино, 1977 * Oto Bihalji-Merin; Небојша Бато Томашевић, ''Енциклопедија наивне уметности света'', Београд, 1984 * Н. Крстић, ''Наивна уметност Србије'', САНУ, МНМУ, Јагодина, 2003 * Н. Крстић, ''Наивна и маргинална уметност Србије'', МНМУ, Јагодина, 2007 * Ивана Јовановић, ''Пал Хомонаи'', МНМУ, Јагодина, 2007

External links

Pal Homonai, Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art, Jagodina, Serbia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homonai, Pal 20th-century births 2010 deaths Naïve painters Hungarian painters 20th-century Serbian painters Serbian male painters 20th-century Serbian male artists