Dezső Czigány (1 June 1883 – 31 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter who was born and died in Budapest. He was one of The Eight (1909–1918), who first exhibited under that name in

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 ...

in 1911 and were influential in introducing

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

and

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

into Hungarian art. Many of them had studied in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and, even more importantly,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, from which they brought back leading techniques and artistic movements. They were part of the radical intellectual culture in Budapest in the early 20th century, associated with such poets as

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady; 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th centur ...

and composers as

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

. In 1937, Czigány killed his family and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in what was considered a psychotic breakdown."A List of Artists Who Committed Suicide"
, Art History, About.com, accessed 1 February 2013

Early life and education

Dezső Czigány was born to a Jewish-Hungarian family in Budapest in 1883.Adrian M. Darmon, ''Autour de l'art juif: Encyclopédie des peintres, photographes et sculpteurs''
Paris: Carnot, 2003, p. 50, accessed 1 February 2013 As a young man, he went to Munich to study art, and also to Paris. In 1901 and 1903, he studied at 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' ...

in Hungary, at what is now

Baia Mare Baia Mare ( , ; ; ; ) is a Municipiu, city along the Săsar, Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramureș, a subregion of Transylvania. It is situated about from Buchare ...

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

Career

Czigány was interested in exploring more contemporary movements in art and became one of The Eight in Budapest. Their first exhibit, called ''New Pictures'', was in 1909, and in 1911, they opened another called ''The Eight.'' Other members included

Károly Kernstok Károly Kernstok (23 December 1873, in Budapest – 9 June 1940, in Budapest) was a Hungary, Hungarian painter. In the early twentieth century, he was known for being among the leading groups of Hungarian painters known as the "Neos" and The Ei ...

Béla Czóbel Béla Czóbel (4 September 1883 – 30 January 1976) was a Hungarian painter, known for his association with The Eight in the early 20th century in Budapest. They were known for introducing Post-Impressionist styles into Hungary, in addition t ...

Róbert Berény Róbert Berény (18 March 1887 – 10 September 1953) was a Hungary, Hungarian Painting, painter, one of the ''avant-garde'' group known as The Eight (Nyolcak), The Eight who introduced cubism and expressionism to Hungarian art in the early twen ...

Ödön Márffy Ödön Márffy (30 November 1878 – 3 December 1959) was a Hungarian painter, one of The Eight in Budapest, credited with bringing cubism, Fauvism and expressionism to the country. Biography Following a short basic training, he obtained a g ...

, Dezső Orbán,

Lajos Tihanyi Lajos Tihanyi (29 October 1885 – 11 June 1938) was a Hungarian painter and lithographer who achieved international renown working outside his country, primarily in Paris, France. After emigrating in 1919, he never returned to Hungary, even on a ...

and

Bertalan Pór Bertalan Pór (4 November 1880 – 28 August 1964) was a Hungarian painter associated with the development of modernist Hungarian art. He was a member of The Eight, a movement among several Hungarian painters in the early twentieth century who ...

. The sculptors Márk Vedres and Vilmos Fémes Beck were also associated with them."Painting and Sculpture in the First Half of 20th Century"
Hungarian National Gallery, accessed 15 Sep 2010 While they had just three exhibits as a group, the painters were influential as part of the radical intellectual life in the city, and participated in related events in literature and music; they were important through 1918. Among the writers and composers involved with The Eight was

, and Czigány was one of at least four men who painted a portrait of this pivotal figure and friend in the early 20th century. The composer

was also associated with these artists. By 1914, Czigány was one of four of the group accepted for an exhibit at the

Vienna Künstlerhaus The Künstlerhaus in Vienna's 1st district has accommodated the Künstlerhaus Vereinigung since 1868. It is located in the Ringstrassenzone in between Akademiestraße, Bösendorferstraße and Musikvereinsplatz. The building was erected betwee ...

, together with Márffy, Orbán, and Kernstok. The works of Berény and Tihanyi, who had embraced

, were rejected as too radical. He painted many still lifes in numerous variations. They are considered to show his quality of restraint and withdrawal, as the scholar Irén Kisdéginé Kirimi describes them as "lacking any lyrical quality." Unlike several members of the group who left in 1919 after the fall of the

Hungarian Democratic Republic The First Hungarian Republic (), until 21 March 1919 the Hungarian People's Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognized country, which quickly transformed into a small rump state due to the foreign and military policy of the doctrinaire pacifis ...

, Czigány stayed in Hungary for most of his career. In his later life, he also painted numerous self-portraits, always with a serious expression on his face. Suffering from depression, in 1937 Czigány killed his family and committed

.Michael Largo, ''Genius and Heroin: Creativity and Reckless Abandon''
HarperCollins, 2010, p. 284, accessed 1 February 2013 Shortly after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a solo retrospective exhibition was held in Budapest to honor Czigány's art work. The opening of the Eastern Bloc in the late twentieth century has stimulated renewed interest in these artists who introduced modernist movements. In the 21st century, there have been several exhibits about the modernists: a 2004 exhibit on the Fauvists in Hungary at 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 w ...

. The centenary of The Eight's first exhibit has prompted two group shows to explore their work in 2011 and 2012 in Hungary and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, respectively.

Exhibits

* 1991–1992, ''Standing in the Storm: The Hungarian Avant-Garde from 1908–1930'', Santa Barbara Museum of Art,

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) 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 Coast of the United States excepting A ...

"Standing in the Storm: The Hungarian Avant-Garde from 1908–1930"
''Hungarian Studies'', Vol. 19, No. 1–2, 1994, accessed 2 February 2013 * 2006, ''Hungarian Fauves from Paris to Nagybánya, 1904–1914'', 21 March—30 July 2006, Hungarian National Gallery''Hungarian Fauves from Paris to Nagybánya, 1904–1914: Exhibition in the Hungarian National Gallery, 21 March – 30 July 2006'', Kristina Passuth and György Szǔcs, Lóránd Bereczky, 2006

Legacy

* 2010–2011, ''A Nyolcak (The Eight): A Centenary Exhibition'', 10 December 2010 – 27 March 2011, Janus Pannonius Museum,

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

* 2012, ''The Eight: Hungary's Highway in the Modern'' (Die Acht. Ungarns Highway in die Moderne), 12 September – 2 December 2012, Bank Austria Kunstforum,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, collaboration with Museum of Fine Arts and Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest.Bécs, Kunstforum: ''Die Acht. Ungarns Highway in die Moderne''
, 2012, Bank Austria Kunstforum, accessed 29 January 2013

References

External links