The Nagybánya artists' colony was an

art colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission ...

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 Simon Hollósy (2 February 1857 – 8 May 1918) was a Hungarian painter. He was considered one of the greatest Hungarian representatives of 19th-century Naturalism and Realism. Hollósy was not highly productive as an artist and was more im ...

's ''szabadiskola'' (Free School) in Munich. The original group focused on plein-air painting. It was Hollósy's idea to have a summer school in a small town. Fellow artists

Károly Ferenczy Károly Ferenczy (February 8, 1862 – March 18, 1917) was a Hungarian painter and leading member of the Nagybánya artists' colony.Ilona Sármány-Parsons"Károly Ferenczy" Oxford Art Online He was among several artists who went to Munich for ...

, Béla Iványi-Grünwald,

István Réti István Réti (26 December 1872 – 17 January 1945) was a Hungarian painter, professor, art historian and leading member, as well as a founder and theoretician, of the Nagybánya artists' colony, located in what is present-day Baia Mare ...

and

János Thorma János Thorma (24 April 1870 – 5 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, which started in 1896, in Nagybánya, Austria-Hungary (today Baia Mare, Romania), he moved through different ...

were involved with the founding of the artists' colony. The colony attracted many artists from Hungary interested in learning the plein-air style taught by Hollósy in the bright atmosphere of Nagybánya. The colony held its first exhibition in 1897 at the ''Műcsarnok.'' It was well received by some critics as reflecting the new and innovative style of European painting and ridiculed by other critics for its departure from traditional forms and techniques. Through the course of its existence the teachers and students worked in the emerging modern styles such as

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

. Some styles were adopted and some rejected, along with the allegiance of various artists. Hollósy influence at the colony was overtaken by the style of Károly Ferenczy. Hollósy departed around 1901 to open another school in Técső,

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 western Ukraine). The colony in Nagybánya continued under the administration of the four remaining founders and renamed the ''Ingyenes festőiskola'' (Free Painting School). In 1910 founder Grünwald left to run the ''Kecskemét Artist's Colony'' 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 ...

, Hungary. In the 1910s attendance at Nagybánya continued but lagged due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the difficulty of travel. In 1927, the school was handed over to a new generation of painters and renamed ''Szépművészeti Iskola'' (School of Fine Arts). In 1935 the school property and colony was taken over by the town as part of the rise of the fascist

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

. In 1937 the group dissolved. The property was used as a barracks for a time and attempts to revive the property as an art school were unsuccessful. In 1966 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 ...

had retrospective titled ''The Art of Nagybánya. Centennial Exhibition in Celebration of the Artists' Colony in Nagybánya.''Valerie Majoros, "Lajos Tihanyi and his friends in the Paris of the nineteen-thirties"
''French Cultural Studies'', 2000, Vol. 11:387, Footnote, p. 388, Sage Publications, accessed 9 April 2021

Associated artists

* Ervin Baktay (

Amrita Sher-Gil Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian–Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ...

's uncle) * Samu Börtsök * Géza Bornemisza * Zoltán Csáktornyai * Antónia Csíkos *

István Csók István Csók (13 February 1865, Sáregres – 1 February 1961, Budapest) was a Hungarian Impressionist painter. Although he was born in Transdanubia, his narrower homeland was not a hill country, but the flat greens of the Sárrét, the ...

Valéria Dénes Valéria Dénes (1877 in Budapest – 1915 in Pécs) was a Hungary, Hungarian painter. The wife of Sándor Galimberti, she was one of the first Hungarian cubism, cubists. References Further reading * * * * External links

* :hu:D� ...

* Viktor Erdei * József Faragó *

* Valér Ferenczy *

Béni Ferenczy Béni Ferenczy (18 June 1890 – 2 June 1967) was a Hungarian sculptor, medalist and graphic artist. Early life and education Béni Ferenczy was born in 1890 in Szentendre, Hungary, the second son of Károly Ferenczy and Olga Fialka, both ...

Noémi Ferenczy Noémi Ferenczy (18 June 1890 – 20 December 1957) was a Hungarian artist, best known for her tapestry designs. She wove her own tapestries, and was influenced by the Nagybánya art movement. She was born in Szentendre, the twin sister of sculpt ...

Sándor Galimberti Sándor () is a Hungarian given name and surname. It is the Hungarian form of Alexander. It may refer to: People Given name * Sándor Apponyi (1844–1925), Hungarian diplomat, bibliophile, bibliographer and book collector * Sándor Boldogfai ...

Oszkár Glatz Oszkár is a Hungarian masculine given name, a variant of the name Oscar. Notable people with the name include: * Oszkár Asboth (1891–1960), Austro-Hungarian aviation engineer sometimes credited with the invention of the helicopter * Oszkár Ber ...

* Béla Iványi-Grünwald *

* Béla Horthy * Zoltán Jakab * Iván Komoróczy * János Krizsán * Alexander Kubinyi * Jenő Maticska * András Mikola * Sándor Nyilasy * Vilmos Perlrott-Csaba * Péter Rátz * Károly Réthy *

* Ernő Béli Vörös * Sándor Ziffer

Gallery

Hollósy, Simon - Autumn (1899).jpg, Simon Hollósy ''Autumn'' 1899 View of Nagybánya with the River Gutin.jpg, Béla Iványi-Grünwald ''View of Nagybánya with the River Gutin'' Károly Ferenczy (1862-1917) On the Hill-top (1901).jpg, Károly Ferenczy ''On a Hilltop'' (1901) Maticska Nagybányai táj.jpg, Jenő Maticska ''Nagybánya Landscape'' Galimberti, Sándor - Cityscape, Nagybánya (ca 1910).jpg, Sándor Galimberti ''Nagybánya'', c. 1910 Thorma János painter (1870-1937.12.05) Paintress.jpg, János Thorma ''Woman Painter'' 1934

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagybánya artists' colony Romanian art Hungarian art Baia Mare Artist colonies 1896 establishments in Hungary 1937 disestablishments in Romania