Georg (George) Mayer-Marton
Encyclopedia
Georg Mayer-Marton was a significant figure in Viennese art between the First and Second World Wars working in oil, watercolour and graphics. Following his forced emigration to England in 1938, he continued to paint in watercolour and oil. He pioneered the technique of Byzantine mosaic
in the U.K.
and Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
. He settled in Vienna, and in 1927 became Secretary, later Vice-President, of the leading progressive society of Viennese artists, the Hagenbund
. In 1928 he provided illustrations in the Chinese style for "Der Kreidekreis" ("the Circle of Chalk
") by Klabund
.
In 1938 following the Anschluss
of Austria and the enactment of Hitler’s Nuremberg laws
, he and his wife fled to England. In 1940, during the London Blitz, his studio home in St John’s Wood was burnt by an incendiary bomb. The majority of his life's work and personal possessions was destroyed. He was not in a position to paint in oil again until 1948.
In 1952, he took up the post of Senior Lecturer in the department of painting at the Liverpool College of Art
. He executed a number of mosaic commissions from the Roman Catholic Church, decorating schools and churches in the North West of England, including the Pentecost mosaic, now in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
.
He died from leukemia in August 1960, leaving several of his mosaic designs unfinished.
Imperial War Museum - "Unspeakable" exhibition http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/99/artists/george_mayer-marton.html
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
in the U.K.
Biography
Mayer-Marton was born in Hungary in 1897, and grew up during the final years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts ViennaAcademy of Fine Arts Vienna
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is an institution of higher education in Vienna, Austria.- History :The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy by the court-painter Peter Strudl, who became the Praefectus Academiae Nostrae. In 1701 he was ennobled as Baron of the Empire...
and Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich was founded 1808 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich as the "Royal Academy of Fine Arts" and is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany...
. He settled in Vienna, and in 1927 became Secretary, later Vice-President, of the leading progressive society of Viennese artists, the Hagenbund
Hagenbund
Der Hagenbund or Künstlerbund Hagen was a group of Austrian artists that formed in 1899.The group's name derived from the name Herr Hagen, the proprietor of an inn in Vienna which they frequented....
. In 1928 he provided illustrations in the Chinese style for "Der Kreidekreis" ("the Circle of Chalk
Circle of Chalk
Circle of Chalk , by Li Xingdao , is a Yuan dynasty Chinese classical zaju verse play, in four acts with a prologue...
") by Klabund
Klabund
Alfred Henschke , better known by his pseudonym Klabund, was a German writer.-Life:Klabund, born Alfred Henschke in 1890 in Krossen, was the son of an apothecary. At the age of 16 he came down with tuberculosis, which the doctors initially misdiagnosed as pneumonia...
.
In 1938 following the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
of Austria and the enactment of Hitler’s Nuremberg laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
, he and his wife fled to England. In 1940, during the London Blitz, his studio home in St John’s Wood was burnt by an incendiary bomb. The majority of his life's work and personal possessions was destroyed. He was not in a position to paint in oil again until 1948.
In 1952, he took up the post of Senior Lecturer in the department of painting at the Liverpool College of Art
Liverpool College of Art
Liverpool College of Art is located at 68 Hope Street, in Liverpool, England. It is a Grade II listed building.The building is currently owned by Liverpool John Moores University housing its School of Social Science....
. He executed a number of mosaic commissions from the Roman Catholic Church, decorating schools and churches in the North West of England, including the Pentecost mosaic, now in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city...
.
He died from leukemia in August 1960, leaving several of his mosaic designs unfinished.
Exhibitions
(Selected)- Memorial Exhibition, 1960, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
- Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1976
- Hagenbund, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, 1978
- Die uns verließen, Österreichische Galerie, Vienna, 1980
- Retrospective, Österreichische Galerie, Vienna 1986
- Art in Exile, Berlin, London, Vienna, 1985/86
- Centenary Exhibition, Györ, 1997
- "Unspeakable” - Imperial War Museum, London, 2008
- Forced Journeys: Artists in Exile in Britain c 1933 – 45, Ben Uri Gallery London, 2009
External links
Georg Mayer-Marton homepage http://www.mayer-marton.com/home/Imperial War Museum - "Unspeakable" exhibition http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/99/artists/george_mayer-marton.html