István Ferenczy was a nineteenth century Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 sculptor.

Artistic education

Ferenczy was born in Rimaszombat. After being apprenticed to his father, a locksmith, he attended a course on copperplate engraving at the Vienna Academy where he was awarded for his medal "Solon".

After studying under Fischer and Kleiber at the Academy in 1817 where he learnt sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

, in 1818 he walked to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and spent six years on a scholarship there where he worked in the workshop of Thorvaldsen, a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 artist.

In 1819 he sent his first works ("Reposing Venus", "Portrait of Csokonai", "Shepherdess or the Beginning of Fine Crafts") to Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and they brought him several scholarships and, as a result, he became Canova's pupil for two years.

Career

Inspired by his progressive artistic education, Ferenczy returned to Hungary in 1824.
where by the 1830s he had modelled the portraits ("Ürmélyi", "Rudnay", "Kazinczy", etc.), tombs ("Kulcsár", "Szánthó", "Fornay"), and altarpieces ("The Blessed" in Vál, "The Martyrdom of St. Stephen" in Esztergom,) and some smaller memorials ("Károly Kisfalady" in Muzeumkert, Budapest).

It was Ferenczy who discovered marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

 in Ruszicka. Travels and excavations cost his much of his fortune. He completed the "Statue of Kölcsey", his major work in 1846 but retired from larger sculpture work from 1847 onwards. Only the statue of "Eurydike", one of his best works, and small clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 statuettes occupied in his time in the 1850s.

Ferenczy made a number of exterted attempts to establish a school of sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 in Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and it was his mission to establish and promote national art in Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 However he proved to be unsuccessful in setting up a sculptural school, but many of his works remain in the Hungarian National Gallery

Hungarian National Gallery

The Hungarian National Gallery , 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 many twentieth-century Hungarian artists who worked in Paris and other locations in the West...

 as a symbol of Hungarian art during the first half of the nineteenth century.

Ferenczy died in 1856 in Rimaszombat.

External links

• http://www.hung-art.hu/frames-e.html?/english/f/ferenczi/index.html