Simon Hollósy; (2 February 1857, Máramarossziget (now

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; german: Marmaroschsiget or ''Siget''; hu, Máramarossziget, ; uk, Сигіт, Syhit; yi, סיגעט, Siget), until 1960 Sighet, is a city (municipality) in Maramureș County near the ...

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

) – 8 May 1918, Técső (now

Tiachiv Tiachiv ( uk, Тячів; rue, Тячово; hu, Técső; yi, טעטש, translit=Tetch) is a city located on the Tisza River in Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Tiachiv Raion (district). Today ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) was a Hungarian painter of Armenian ancestry; original name was: Choriban (Korbuly).Gudenus János József:Örmény eredetű magyar nemesi családok genealógiája He was considered one of the greatest Hungarian representatives of 19th-century Naturalism and

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

. Hollósy was not highly productive as an artist and was more important as an influential teacher, who influenced the painters 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' ...

. Together, they were significant in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Hungarian art. In 1966 the Hungarian National Gallery had a major exhibition of the colony's work: ''The Art of Nagybánya. Centennial Exhibition in Celebration of the Artists' Colony in Nagybánya.''Valerie Majoros, "Lajos Tihanyi and his friends in the Paris of the nineteen-thirties"
''French Cultural Studies'', 2000, Vol. 11:387, Footnote, p. 388, Sage Publications, accessed 30 January 2013

Early life and education

Simon Hollósy was born in 1857 in Máramarossziget,

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 ...

(today Sighetu Marmaţiei,

), in the historic region of

Maramureș or Marmaroshchyna ( ro, Maramureș ; uk, Мармарощина, Marmaroshchyna; hu, Máramaros) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated in the northeastern Carpathians, alon ...

. His parents were

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

who had migrated to the area. He early expressed a talent and interest in art. As a young man, he 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 ...

to study, as did many artists from Hungary because there was no academy of fine arts there. Hollósy criticized the training at the Munich Academy, which was strongly based on copying classical models. He founded a private school where he gave free classes, attracting young talents who were interested in realistic portrayal. He opened the way to new styles by relying on his personality and by pointing out the merits of French painters, such as

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

, who exhibited in the city. He abandoned the academic style in order to follow new trends in French painting, including

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. He also "admired

Jules Breton Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (1 May 1827 – 5 July 1906) was a 19th-century French naturalist painter. His paintings are heavily influenced by the French countryside and his absorption of traditional methods of painting helped make Jules ...

Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that emerged from the later phase of the Realist movement. His most famous work is his lan ...

and read Zola, Murger, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky."Julia Szabo, "European Art Centers and Hungarian Art (1890-1919)"
''Hungarian Studies'', 1994, Vol.19, No.1-2, p.42, accessed 2 February 2013 He was more important as a teacher than a painter. His large-scale plan of ''Rákóczi March,'' never progressed much beyond sketches, as he kept changing his mind. His landscapes painted in Técső include ''Landscape in Técső'', ''Landscape with Stacks'' and ''Sunset with Stacks,'' in which he applied elements of ''

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

'' and

. His self-portrait (1916), held by 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 ...

, is considered one of his most harrowing pictures. Encouraged by

István Réti István Réti (26 December 1872 – 17 January 1945) was a Hungarian painter, professor, art historian and leading member, as well as a founder and theoretician, of the Nagybánya artists' colony, located in what is present-day Baia Mare, ...

and János Thorma, his pupils and friends, Hollósy spent the summer of 1896 in Nagybánya (today

Baia Mare Baia Mare ( , ; hu, Nagybánya; german: Frauenbach or Groß-Neustadt; la, Rivulus Dominarum) is a municipality along the Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramur ...

) with his school. That is considered the founding of the

, of which the painter

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 ...

was another important early member. The more rural location provided many chances for painting outdoors. These artists and their followers played an important role in introducing impressionism and post-impressionism to Hungarian painting. Hollósy soon settled down in Nagybánya. With its naturalistic style and emphasis on ''

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

'' techniques, his school determined much of Hungarian painting for decades. Hollósy left the Nagybánya colony in 1901. The following year, he began to spend the summers in

Técső Tiachiv ( uk, Тячів; rue, Тячово; hu, Técső; yi, טעטש, translit=Tetch) is a city located on the Tisza River in Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Tiachiv Raion (district). Today, ...

(today

, in the historic

region) with those students who followed him. During the winters, Hollósy returned to Munich to run his school there.

Legacy and honours

*In 1966 the Hungarian National Gallery had a major exhibition of the colony's work: ''The Art of Nagybánya. Centennial Exhibition in Celebration of the Artists' Colony in Nagybánya.''

Exhibits

*2009
"Munich in Hungarian, Hungarian Artists in Munich 1850-1914, 2 Oct 2009 - Jan 2010"
Hungarian National Gallery *1991-1992, ''Standing in the Storm: The Hungarian Avant-Garde from 1908-1930'', Santa Barbara Museum of Art,

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

''Standing in the Storm: The Hungarian Avant-Garde from 1908-1930''
''Hungarian Studies'', Vol. 19, No. 1-2, 1994, accessed 2 February 2013

Selected paintings

Hollósy, Simon - Girl with a Large Green Hat (ca 1900).jpg, Girl with a Large Green Hat (ca 1900) Hollósy, Simon - Springtime Mood (Bank of the River Tisza, 1916).jpg, Springtime Mood (Banks of the

Tisza River The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

) 1912 Hollósy, Simon - After the Harvest (1908).jpg, After the Harvest, 1908 Hollósy, Simon - Haystacks II (1912).jpg, Haystacks II, 1912 Hollósy Tengerihántás 1885.JPG, Corn Husking, 1885 Hollósy Zrínyi kirohanása.jpg, Zrínyi's Charge on the Turks, 1896

References

External links