Ernő Tibor, originally Fischer (28 February 1885 – early 1945) was a Hungarian

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

Neo-Impressionist Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginn ...

painter of Jewish ancestry. He was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Biography

From 1904 to 1905 he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

in Budapest with

Tivadar Zemplényi Tivadar Zemplényi (1864, Eperjes – 1917, Budapest) was a Hungarian painter, noted for his realism. A medalist at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis World's Fair, he also exhibited at the 1900 Exposition Universelle (1900), Expos ...

.Brief biography
@ J-Art. It was there he became interested in painting scenes from everyday life. He could not, however, tolerate the conservative approach taken by the Academy so, thanks to a scholarship from the city government of Nagyvárad (today

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), he went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

. While there, he worked with

Jean-Paul Laurens Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a romanticism French painter and sculptor, and he is one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style. Biography Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon ...

, who encouraged him to paint portraits; notably of the poets

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady; 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th centur ...

and , an old friend from school. Tibor-Peasants

After returning from Paris, he held his first solo exhibition in Oradea and was married shortly thereafter. From 1912 to 1914, he exhibited in Stockholm,

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Copenhagen and several cities in Germany, but he always made Nagyvárad his center of activity. During this time, he also helped organize an art and literature society called "Holnap" (Tomorrow). He was often referred to as the "painter of Nagyvárad". His career was interrupted by service in World War I, although he sketched while at the front. Afterward, he began to organize exhibits, including a major showing of local artists in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. He would continue to exhibit there at the Official Salon. Later in the 1920s, he made lengthy visits to Italy and France (notably

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

). In 1935, with financial support from Oradea, he travelled the Black Sea coast from

Balchik Balchik ( ; , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km no ...

to the Soviet border and expanded his palette of colors. Following the establishment of the Fascist régime in 1940, persecution by the

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 ...

prevented him from participating in public events in Romania, although he was able to quietly contribute to some as late as 1942. After that, he unsuccessfully tried to exhibit at the Budapest Salon. In the aftermath of

Operation Margarethe In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by the Wehrmacht. This invasion was formally known as Operation Margarethe (Unternehmen Margarethe). Course of events Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, who had been in office from 1942, had the kno ...

, an effort was made to "cleanse" the Hungarian-speaking areas of Jews. In May 1944 he was transported to the concentration camp at

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

then transferred to a forced-labor group at Dachau. He was murdered there early the next year, not long before the camp was liberated. In 1990, an art society and gallery bearing his name was established in one of Oradea's historic buildings. In January 1992 a large retrospective of local Jewish painters was held at the Muzeul Țării Crișurilor in Oradea. The exhibition was called "Light and Spirit" and included Tibor's works together with those of Alex Leon, Ernő Grünbaum and Móric Barát (1880-1944). Tibor-Oradea3

References

Brief biography in Hungarian
@ Romániai Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon.

External links

Tibor Ernő Fine Arts Foundation and Gallery
website. Includes slideshow with drawing of Tibor.
ArtNet: More works by Tibor.Arcadja Auctions: More works by Tibor.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tibor, Erno 1885 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Hungarian painters 20th-century Romanian painters Jewish painters Hungarian Impressionist painters Académie Julian Hungarian people who died in Dachau concentration camp People from Oradea Hungarian Jews who died in the Holocaust Hungarian people executed in Nazi concentration camps Hungarian civilians killed in World War II Hungarian male painters 20th-century Hungarian male artists