Simon Hollósy
Encyclopedia
Sighetu Marmatiei
Sighetu Marmației , formerly Sighet, is a city in Maramureş County near the Iza River, in north-western Romania. It administers five villages: Iapa, Lazu Baciului, Șugău, Valea Cufundoasă and Valea Hotarului.-Geography:...
- 8 May 1918, Técső, now Tiachiv
Tiachiv
Tyachiv is a city located on the Tisza River in the Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Tiachiv Raion .- History and name :...
) was a Hungarian painter. He was considered one of the greatest Hungarian representatives of 19th century Naturalism and Realism
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
. Hollósy was not productive as an artist: he was in search of atmospheres and his productivity was confined to teaching. His large scale plan of "Rákóczi March" with a lot of figures got as far sketches because he kept on changing his mind. The landscapes painted in Técső include "Landscape in Técső", "Landscape with Stacks and Sunset with Stacks", where he applied elements of plein air and impressionism. His self-portrait (1916) is one of his most harrowing pictures.
Hollósy came from an Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
family who settled in Máramarossziget (present-day Sighetu Marmaţiei
Sighetu Marmatiei
Sighetu Marmației , formerly Sighet, is a city in Maramureş County near the Iza River, in north-western Romania. It administers five villages: Iapa, Lazu Baciului, Șugău, Valea Cufundoasă and Valea Hotarului.-Geography:...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
). He frequently worked abroad.
He criticized training at the Academy and founded a private school in 1886 where he gathered young talents around him who were interested in realistic portrayal. He opened the way to new styles by relying on his personality and by pointing out the merits of French pictures (Courbet) exhibited in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. He abandoned the academic style in order to follow new trends in French painting.
Encouraged by István Réti
István Réti
István Réti was a Hungarian painter, professor, art historian and leading member, as well as a founder and theoretician, of the Nagybánya artists' colony....
and János Thorma
János Thorma
János Thorma was a Hungarian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, his work progressed from naturalism, to historical subjects, to romantic realism to a Post-Impressionism of a style specific to Nagybánya .Born in Kiskunhalas, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary to the...
, his pupils and friends, he spent the summer of 1896 in Nagybánya (present-day Baia Mare
Baia Mare
Baia Mare is a municipality in northwestern Romania and the capital of Maramureş County. The city is situated about 600 kilometres from Bucharest, the capital of Romania, 70 kilometres from the border with Hungary and 50 kilometres from the border with Ukraine...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) with his school, which played an important role in Hungarian painting as the cradle of the Nagybánya school. He soon settled down in Nagybánya. With its style (sunny landscapes), his school determined Hungarian painting for decades. Leaving the Nagybánya colony in 1901, he spent the summers in Técső with his students from 1902. During winters he was in Munich to run his school there.