János Tornyai (January 18, 1869 – September 20, 1936) was a renowned Hungarian painter born in
Hódmezővásárhely.
Early life
Tornyai, the son of day labourers, studied at the School of Decorative Art in 1886–1888, then a guest pupil of
Bertalan Székely,
Károly Lotz and
János Greguss in 1888–89. He studied at the
Académie Julian in
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 1894 where he was influenced by
Mihály Munkácsy's art. He visited Germany and Italy in 1897, then returned to Hódmezővásárhely.
He had hardly enough to keep body and soul together, and had a studio from 1903 only. He started to collect folklore products together with and
Béla Endre and they founded a school in Hódmezővásárhely to save folk pottery. He lived in
Mártély from the 1910s onwards where he painted a series of landscapes on the
Great Plain. He moved to
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 1919. He worked in
Szentendre for a few months in 1933–34.
First he was Munkácsy's follower in portraying peasants' lives. His major works from this period "Rákóczi in Rodostó", 1904, "The Outlaw's Love", 1907, and "Miklós Nagy Bercsényi", 1908. "Heritage" inspired him to paint landscapes with delicate colours ("Well-Sweep", "Hungarian Fate", etc.). In his late Szentendre period, colours became lighter and he was engaged in
plein air ("Woman in Green Coat", 1932–34, etc.).
He became interested in the Great Plain around 1904 and from then on he made several pictures of farmsteads with violent brushwork and sweeping style. Hódmezővásárhely was the place he always returned to after his journeys to
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 ...
, Paris and Szentendre, and he spent his last years nearby, in Mártély; very peaceful and productive years. In 1984, 718 pictures were found under the floor of his studio. Now these pictures are in the Tornyai Museum of Hódmezővásárhely.
[.]
Gallery
Realistic style
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Young Woman in the Atelier (1904).jpg, Young peasant woman in the studio (1904)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Lesson on the Farm (1896).jpg, Lesson on the Farm (1896)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Bolting Girl (c.1900).jpg, Bolting girl (c. 1900)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) The Legacy (1920).jpg, The Legacy (1920)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Making a Buch of Flowers (1933).jpg, Making a buch of flowers (1933)
Landscapes
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936)Farm on the Great Hungarian Plain (c.1910).jpg, Farm on the Great Hungarian Plain (c. 1910)
File:János Tornyai (1896-1936)Farm with Shadoof (1907).jpg, Farm with shadoof (1907)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Shadoof (Looming) (1910s).jpg, Shadoof with looming (1910)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Great Tree at Mártély (1910s).jpg, Great tree at Mártély (1910)
Post- Nagybánya style
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Wheatland with Woman of Shawl (1912).jpg, Wheatland with woman of shawl (1912)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Cortyard in Sunshine(1928).jpg, Courtyard in Sunshine (1928)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Interior with Curtained Window (1929).jpg, Interior with Curtained Window (1929)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) View at Szentendre(1933).jpg, View at Szentendre (1933)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Woman Standing in a Door (c.1933-34).jpg, Woman Standing in a Door (c. 1933–34)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) On the Bench (1933-34).jpg, On the Bench (1933–34)
File:János Tornyai (1869-1936) Window of the Atelier(1934).jpg, Window of the Atelier (1934)
File:János Tornyai Interior (1934).jpg, Interior (1934)
References
* XIX-XX. century Hungarian painting. Ed. Ibos Éva. Transl. Havasi Máté. Kisújszállás : Pannon-Literatúra Kft., 2007. János Tornyai see 94–95. p.
External links
ArtNet Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tornyai, Janos
1869 births
1936 deaths
People from Hódmezővásárhely
19th-century Hungarian painters
20th-century Hungarian painters
Hungarian male painters
19th-century Hungarian male artists
20th-century Hungarian male artists
Painters from Austria-Hungary