Károly Markó, also known as Carlo Marco (25 September 1791,
@ the Magyar Életrajzi Lexikonban. Lőcse (today

Levoča Levoča (; ; ) is the principal town of Levoča District in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia, with a population of 14,256. The town has a historic center with a well-preserved town wall, a Gothic architecture, Gothic church with the talle ...

, Slovakia) – 19 November 1860, at the Villa Medici di Lappeggi near

Bagno a Ripoli Bagno a Ripoli is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italy, Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence. The International School of Florence has its primary school campus in the comune.

, Italy) was one of the first Hungarian landscape painters. He is often referred to as "The Elder", to distinguish him from his son,

Károly Markó the Younger Károly Markó, also known as Carlo Marco or Markó the Younger (Pest, Hungary, Pest, January 22, 1822 – Moscow, 1891), was a Hungarian-Italian painter, mainly of landscapes. Carlo's father, Károly Markó the Elder, was born in Hungary and d ...

Biography

In the early 1800s, although he was already interested in art, he studied engineering as an apprentice in Pest and

Kolozsvár 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 ( ...

(today Cluj-Napoca, Romania). Markó Károly
@ the Magyar Életrajzi Lexikonban. From 1812 to 1818, after mastering his craft, he worked as an engineer in Ólubló (today Stará Ľubovňa, Slovakia) and Rozsnyó (today Rožňava, Slovakia). It was in the latter city that he produced his first paintings, modeled after those of well-known contemporary artists. In 1818, he moved to Pest and studied to improve his drawing skills. Four years later, he moved to

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. ...

, where he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in history and landscape painting. He married there and ultimately had eight children. From 1826 to 1830, he lived in

Kismarton Eisenstadt (; ; ; or ; ) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Burgenland. With a population of 15,074 (as of 2023), it is the smallest state capital and the 38th-largest city in Austria overall. It lies at the foot of the Leitha Mountai ...

(today Eisenstadt, Austria), then settled on the Eszterházy estates, where he produced copies for art dealers and was increasingly in demand. Under the patronage of a local banker, he returned to Hungary and produced '' Visegrád'', one of his most familiar paintings. In 1832, he made an extended tour of Italy, visiting Florence, Venice,

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and Rome. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave Rome in 1838 when he became ill with

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and had to stay in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

until 1843. While there, he was elected a member of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

. He travelled again, from 1843 to 1848, when he decided to settle permanently somewhere near Florence, eventually taking up residence in a townhouse at Lappeggi, courtesy of Count Gherardesca. He soon became very popular among the local aristocracy and was never short of work to do. Except for one brief painting trip to Hungary in 1853, he would remain there the rest of his life. His sons András and

Ferenc Ferenc () is a given name of Hungarian origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, Francesco, François, Frank and Franz. People with the name include: * Ferenc Batthyány (1497–1566), Hungarian magnate and general * Ferenc Bene (1944–20 ...

were also well-known painters.

Selected paintings

File:Markó Visegrád.jpg, Visegrád (1826) File:Károly Markó (I) - The Puszta - WGA14113.jpg, The

Puszta The Hungarian puszta () is a temperate grassland biome of the Great Hungarian Plain. It is an exclave of the Pannonian Steppe, and lies mainly around the River Tisza in the eastern part of Hungary, as well as in the western part of the country ...

(1853) File:Károly Markó (I) - Italian Landscape with Viaduct and Rainbow - WGA14108.jpg, Italian Landscape with Viaduct and Rainbow (1838) File:Markó, Károly - Italian Landscapes at Sunset, Fishermen - Google Art Project.jpg, Italian Landscape at Sunset with Fishermen (1851)

References

External links

Markó Károly
Biographies and criticism/appreciations @ the Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtár {{DEFAULTSORT:Marko, Karoly 1793 births 1860 deaths 19th-century Hungarian painters Hungarian landscape painters Italian landscape painters 19th-century Italian painters Painters from Tuscany Painters from the Austrian Empire

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links