Vilmos Huszár (5 January 1884 – 8 September 1960) was a Hungarian painter and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

. He lived in The Netherlands, where he was one of the founding members of the art movement

De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...

. Huszár was born 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 ...

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 ...

. He emigrated to The Netherlands in 1905, settling at first in

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 peo ...

. He was influenced by Cubism and Futurism. He met other influential artists including Piet Mondrian and

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nell ...

, both central figures in establishing the De Stijl movement with Huszár in 1917. Huszár also co-founded the ''De Stijl'' magazine and designed the cover for the first issue. In 1918 he designed interior colour schemes for the bedroom of Bruynzeel house in Voorburg. From 1920 to 1921 he collaborated with

Piet Zwart Piet Zwart (; 28 May 1885 – 24 September 1977) was a Dutch photographer, typographer, and industrial designer. Biography Early life Piet Zwart was born on May 28, 1885 in Zaandijk. He trained as an architect, and began graphic design proje ...

on furniture designs. He left the De Stijl group in 1923. He collaborated with

Gerrit Rietveld Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888 – 25 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. Early life Rietveld was born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at n ...

on an exhibition interior for the Greater

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Art Exhibition. From 1925, Huszár concentrated on graphic design and painting. In 1926 he created a complete visual identity for Miss Blanche Virginia cigarettes, which included packaging,

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, and

point of sale display A point-of-sale display (POS display) is a specialised form of sales promotion that is found near, on, or next to a checkout counter (the "point of sale"). They are intended to draw the customers' attention to products, which may be new products ...

s. The concept drew on the imagery associated with the emergent "New Women", or

Flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered accepta ...

s. The Flappers were perceived as young, single, urban, and employed, with independent ideas and a certain disdain for authority and social norms. The smoking of cigarettes was closely associated with their newfound independence. Huszár's work was included in the 1939 exhibition and sale ''

Onze Kunst van Heden Onze Kunst van Heden (Contemporary Artists/Our Art of Today) was an exhibition held in the winter of 1939 through 1940 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Due to the threat of invasion in the years leading up to World War II, the Netherlands' g ...

'' (Our Art of Today) at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The whereabouts of many of Huszár's works are unknown. Many of his paintings and sculptures are only known through photographs that appeared in ''De Stijl'', or from photographs taken by the artist himself. Works that are lost include the ''Dancing mechanical doll'', a device that could adopt several different postures and was used during

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

conferences in the early 1920s. Huszár died in the Dutch town

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The south ...

in 1960. From 8 March to 19 May 1985 a large Huszár retrospective was held at the Gemeentemuseum in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. In 2021 an exceptional Vilmos Huszar Sculpture was discovered at a hungarian collector, Peter Lozsy. Very excited , because this is the only known exist sculpture was made by the artist. The art first have been shown on a parisian "Lost and Found" Exhibition.

References

External links

Artcyclopedia
Links to Vilmos Huszár's works
Short biography (in german)Video reconstruction of 'Mechanical Dancing Figure' by Huszár in 1922La Gazette/DrouotThe only known Vilmos Huszar Sculpture's Owner's Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huszar, Vilmos Abstract painters Cubist artists 1884 births 1960 deaths De Stijl 20th-century Hungarian painters Hungarian male painters 20th-century Hungarian male artists