Bertalan Székely (8 May 1835, Kolozsvár,

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(now

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, Romania) – 21 August 1910,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Transleithania,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) was a Hungarian history and portrait painter who worked in the Romantic and

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

styles.

Biography

Born into a family that was originally part of the Transylvanian nobility, his father was a

court clerk A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court and administering oaths ...

. Although his family wanted him to become an engineer, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna from 1851 to 1855, under Johann Nepomuk Geiger and Carl Rahl.Brief biography
@ the Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon. He then returned to his hometown where, for the next three years, he worked as an art teacher. After a year of employment with Count Aichelburg in Marschendorf, he married and moved to Munich, where he studied with Karl von Piloty. It was there that he first developed his interest in history painting. In 1862, he settled in Pest. The following year, he won a contest with his painting "The Escape of Emperor Charles VII" and used the prize money to finance a trip to the Netherlands and Paris, returning in 1864. He became one of the first teachers hired at the new "Hungarian Royal Drawing School" (now the Hungarian University of Fine Arts) in 1871 and served as its Director from 1902 to 1905, when he took over the master classes. From the 1860s through the 1880s, he mostly painted portraits and female figures, then turned to landscapes. He also created decorative murals in the

Matthias Church The Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle (), more commonly known as the Matthias Church () and more rarely as the Coronation Church of Buda, is a Catholic church in Holy Trinity Square, Budapest, Hungary, in front of the Fisherman's Bastion ...

, Budapest Opera House and the City Hall in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( ) is a city with county rights in central Hungary. It is the List of cities and towns of Hungary, eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun County, Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the ca ...

. Later, he became interested in the movement studies made by Edweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey and conducted some of his own.

Selected paintings

File:Székely Portrait of Adalbert Stifter 1863.jpg, Portrait of

Adalbert Stifter Adalbert Stifter (; 23 October 1805 – 28 January 1868) was a Bohemian- Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking wo ...

(1863) File:El descubrimiento del cuerpo del rey Luis II, por Bertalan Székely.jpg, Discovering the Body of
King Louis II (1860) File:Egri no.jpg, The Women of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

(1867) File:Zivatar.jpg, Thunderstorm (1875)

Writings

* ''Székely Bertalan válogatott művészeti írásai'' (selected writings on art), introduction by László Maksay, Képzőművészeti Alap Kiadóvállalata, Budapest, 1962

References

Exhibition flyer
4 April through 28 June 2009 @ the Művészetek Háza in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

(includes a biographical time-line)

External links

Hungarian Art History
"Looking Down Into the Abyss: Bertalan Székely and the Perils of Love"

by Árpád Schauschek @ the Magyar Elektronikus Kõnyvtár {{DEFAULTSORT:Szekely, Bertalan 1835 births 1910 deaths Academic staff of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts History painters Hungarian portrait painters Painters from Austria-Hungary

Biography

Selected paintings

Writings

References

Further reading

External links