Béni Ferenczy (18 June 1890 – 2 June 1967) was a Hungarian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

medalist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

and graphic artist.

Early life and education

Béni Ferenczy was born in 1890 in Szentendre,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, the second son of

Károly Ferenczy Károly Ferenczy (February 8, 1862 – March 18, 1917) was a Hungarian painter and leading member of the Nagybánya artists' colony.Ilona Sármány-Parsons"Károly Ferenczy" Oxford Art Online He was among several artists who went to Munich for ...

and Olga Fialka, both painters. His sister Noémi was his fraternal twin. All three of the children became artists: Valér was a painter, Béni a sculptor and Noémi a weaver.''Ferenczy Károly (1862-1917) gyűjteményes kiállítása'' (The Retrospective Exhibition of Károly Ferenczy), eds. Judit Boros and Edit Plesznivy, Budapest: Hungarian National Gallery, 2011 As a young man, Ferenczy went to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and

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 ...

to study art, as did many artists from Hungary since the late nineteenth century. In the latter city, he studied with both Antoine Bourdelle and

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 ...

Career

Later in his career, Ferenczy also worked in

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 ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, for a time. After his experiences with cubism first and with expressionism later, his art evolved in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s with emphasized forms. While a highly talented sculptor he was one of the most accomplished graphic artists in Hungary of the period. He also illustrated many books.

Marriage and family

He married Erzsi (Elizabeth) (c.1904-2000) in 1932. She was his close companion, an inspiration for his work and a frequent model of his. Ferenczy died in 1967 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 ...

Erzsi Ferenczy

After his death, Erzsi Ferenczy worked to preserve her husband's work and memory. She died in 2000 at the age of 96.

Legacy and honours

*1972, Erzsi Ferenczy founded the Ferenczy Museum in Szentendre, with holdings that included artwork by each member of the family. *In 1993, Erzsi established the Ferenczy Family Foundation.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20061023024011/http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no179/7.html 1890 births 1967 deaths People from Szentendre Hungarian medallists Burials at Kerepesi Cemetery Hungarian twins Academic staff of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts 20th-century Hungarian sculptors {{Hungary-sculptor-stub