Vilmos Huszàr
Encyclopedia
Vilmos Huszár was a Hungarian
painter
and designer
. He lived in The Netherlands, where he was one of the founder members of the art movement De Stijl
.
Huszár was born in Budapest
, Hungary
. He emigrated to The Netherlands in 1905, settling at first in Voorburg
. He was influenced by Cubism
and Futurism
. He met other influential artists including Piet Mondrian
and Theo van Doesburg
, both central figures in establishing the De Stijl movement with Huszár in 1917. Huszár also co-founded the De Stijl magazine
and designed the cover for the first issue.
In 1918 he designed interior colour schemes for the bedroom of Bruynzeel house in Voorburg. From 1920 to 1921 he collaborated with Piet Zwart
on furniture designs. He left the De Stijl group in 1923. He collaborated with Gerrit Rietveld
on an exhibition interior for the Greater Berlin
Art Exhibition. From 1925, Huszár concentrated on graphic design
and painting.
In 1926 he created a complete visual identity for Miss Blanche Virginia cigarette
s, which included packaging
, advertising
, and point-of-sale displays. The concept drew on the imagery associated with the emergent "New Women", or Flapper
s. The Flappers were perceived as young, single, urban, and employed, with independent ideas and a certain disdain for authority and social norms. The smoking of cigarettes was closely associated with their new found independence.
The whereabouts of many of Huszár's works are unknown. Many of his paintings and sculptures are only known through photographs that appeared in De Stijl, or from photographs taken by the artist himself. Works that are lost include the Dancing mechanical doll, a device that could adopt several different postures and was used during Dada
conferences in the early 1920s.
Huszár died in the Dutch town Hierden
in 1960.
From 8 March to 19 May 1985 a large Huszár retrospective was held at the Gemeentemuseum
in The Hague
.
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...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
. He lived in The Netherlands, where he was one of the founder members of the art movement De Stijl
De Stijl
De Stijl , propagating the group's theories. Next to van Doesburg, the group's principal members were the painters Piet Mondrian , Vilmos Huszár , and Bart van der Leck , and the architects Gerrit Rietveld , Robert van 't Hoff , and J.J.P. Oud...
.
Huszár was born in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, 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...
. He emigrated to The Netherlands in 1905, settling at first in Voorburg
Voorburg
Voorburg is a Dutch town and former municipality in the western part of the province of South Holland, the Netherlands. As also Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it is part of the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has approximately 39,000 inhabitants....
. He was influenced by Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and Futurism
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
. He met other influential artists including Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
and Theo van Doesburg
Theo van Doesburg
Theo van Doesburg was a Dutch artist, practicing in painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl.-Biography:-Early life:...
, both central figures in establishing the De Stijl movement with Huszár in 1917. Huszár also co-founded the De Stijl magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
and designed the cover for the first issue.
In 1918 he designed interior colour schemes for the bedroom of Bruynzeel house in Voorburg. From 1920 to 1921 he collaborated with Piet Zwart
Piet Zwart
Piet Zwart was a Dutch photographer, typographer, and industrial designer.- Examples of His Artwork :He started his career as an architect and worked for Jan Wils and Berlage....
on furniture designs. He left the De Stijl group in 1923. He collaborated with Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. One of the principal members of the Dutch artistic movement called De Stijl, Rietveld is famous for his Red and Blue Chair and for the Rietveld Schröder House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-Biography:Rietveld was born in...
on an exhibition interior for the Greater Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
Art Exhibition. From 1925, Huszár concentrated on graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and painting.
In 1926 he created a complete visual identity for Miss Blanche Virginia cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s, which included packaging
Packaging and labelling
Packaging is the science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport,...
, advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, and point-of-sale displays. The concept drew on the imagery associated with the emergent "New Women", or Flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
s. The Flappers were perceived as young, single, urban, and employed, with independent ideas and a certain disdain for authority and social norms. The smoking of cigarettes was closely associated with their new found independence.
The whereabouts of many of Huszár's works are unknown. Many of his paintings and sculptures are only known through photographs that appeared in De Stijl, or from photographs taken by the artist himself. Works that are lost include the Dancing mechanical doll, a device that could adopt several different postures and was used during Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
conferences in the early 1920s.
Huszár died in the Dutch town Hierden
Hierden
Hierden is a Dutch town in Harderwijk, province of Gelderland.It has 2700 inhabitants. The town came from different locations at the east of Harderwijk's farms....
in 1960.
From 8 March to 19 May 1985 a large Huszár retrospective was held at the Gemeentemuseum
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
The Municipal Museum is an art museum, located in The Hague, Netherlands.The museum was built by the Dutch architect H.P. Berlage. It is renowned for its large Mondrian collection, the largest in the world...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
External links
- Artcyclopedia Links to Huszár's works
- Brief biography
- Short biography (in german)