Farkas "Wolfgang" Ferenc Molnár (1897–1945) was a Hungarian architect, painter, essayist, and graphic artist. He is associated with the first generation of

Bauhaus movement The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

, and was active in Budapest.

Biography

Farkas Molnár was born in 1897 in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other alternative names) is the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the country's southwest, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administr ...

, southwestern Hungary. He attended

Hungarian University of Fine Arts The Hungarian University of Fine Arts ( Hungarian: ''Magyar Képzőművészeti Egyetem'', MKE) is the central Hungarian art school in Budapest, Andrássy Avenue. It was founded in 1871 as the Hungarian Royal Drawing School ''(Magyar Királyi Min ...

from 1915 to 1917; followed by study at the

Budapest University of Technology and Economics The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( hu, Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is the most significant university of technology in Hungary and is considered the world's olde ...

in 1917 before he was expelled for his leftist views. In 1921, he became a member of

Bauhaus University, Weimar The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is a university located in Weimar, Germany, and specializes in the artistic and technical fields. Established in 1860 as the Great Ducal Saxon Art School, it gained collegiate status on 3 June 1910. In 1919 the sc ...

and studied under

Johannes Itten Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967) was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (''Staatliches Bauhaus'') school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feininge ...

, and later

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

. In 1923, he organized the first exhibition of the Bauhaus, at which time he exhibited a plan for a house known as ''.'' In 1924, he studied under

Georg Muche Georg Muche (8 May 1895 – 26 March 1987) was a German painter, printmaker, architect, author, and teacher. Early life and education Georg Muche was born on 8 May 1895 in Querfurt, in the Prussian Province of Saxony, and grew up in the Rhön ...

and

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most ...

; and worked on designing the exterior and interior of terraced houses. He moved back to Hungry in 1925, where he graduated from Budapest University of Technology and Economics, studied under and . He participated in the KUT exhibitions with his paintings and designs, as well as was a founding member of the Hungarian Workshop Association, and took part in the Bauhaus tradition of the Green Donkey Theater's stage workshop. Molnár designed the "U-Theatre", a motorized stage that could glide horizontally. In 1929, Gropius invited him to the CIAM Congress (Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne) in Frankfurt. After his return, together with Marcello Breuer and József Fischer, he founded the CIAM branch in Hungary. His work is part of museum collections including

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

(MoMA), and

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molnár, Farkas 1897 births 1945 deaths Hungarian architects Bauhaus University, Weimar alumni People from Pécs Hungarian University of Fine Arts alumni Budapest University of Technology and Economics alumni 20th-century Hungarian architects Modernist architects