Gyula Derkovits (13 April 1894,

Szombathely } Szombathely (; ; also see #Etymology, names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams ''Perint'' and '' ...

, 18 June 1934,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) was a Hungarian painter and graphic artist whose work shows elements of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in the Soviet Union in t ...

Biography

His father was a master carpenter and, despite showing some early artistic talent, he was forced to pursue the same trade. A friend who was a sign painter gave him his first drawing lessons,Brief Biography
@ Fine Arts in Hungary. (link to index) against his family's wishes. Displeased with that situation, he fled from his family by volunteering to serve in World War I. This proved to be an unfortunate decision, as he was wounded at the front, leaving him with a paralyzed left hand and a lung problem which became

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. In 1916, he moved to Budapest where he supported himself with a disability pension and, ironically, by doing some carpentry. In 1918, he joined the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

and remained a member until 1930, when membership became too dangerous. During this time, he learned to draw and paint at various night schools until 1918, when

Károly Kernstok Károly Kernstok (23 December 1873, in Budapest – 9 June 1940, in Budapest) was a Hungary, Hungarian painter. In the early twentieth century, he was known for being among the leading groups of Hungarian painters known as the "Neos" and The Ei ...

agreed to take him as a student, free of charge, at the

Nyergesújfalu Nyergesújfalu (; ) is a town in Komárom-Esztergom County, Hungary, in the Central Transdanubia region. The city, located near the river Danube, is an ancient site of habitation. It was located on the Crumerum, a major Roman trade and military r ...

art colony and taught him copper engraving in addition to painting. Unfortunately, the many changes in government disrupted pension payments and he was forced to return to manual labor, which was increasingly too difficult for him. As a result, he moved to Vienna in 1923, where he was able to find sufficient work doing paintings and etchings and had a successful exhibition at the Weihburg Gallery. He lived there for three years, then returned to Budapest. In 1928, his reputation was secured by a series of twelve woodcuts depicting the

peasant revolt This is a chronological list of revolts organized by peasants. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: * Tax resistance * So ...

of 1514 (led by

György Dózsa György Dózsa (or ''György Székely'', Romanian: ''Gheorghe Doja''; – 20 July 1514) was a Székely man-at-arms from Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary who led a peasants' revolt against the kingdom's landed nobility during the reign ...

), despite having been done at the behest of the Communist Party. After 1930, his style became increasingly personal and eccentric.

Tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

was his preferred medium then and his paintings, with subjects from daily life, became larger; almost monumental. He also worked in clay and wood sculpture. He died, aged only forty, after a series of illnesses. Several streets have been named after him and a "Derkovits Art Scholarship" has been presented since 1955.The Derkovits Art Scholarship
@ MANK

Selected paintings

File:Derkovits Gyula Mother and child 1917.jpg, Mother and Child (1917) File:Derkovits, Gyula - Below a Big Tree (1922).jpg, Below a Big Tree (1922) File:Derkovits Gyula Auction 1930.jpg, Auction (1930) File:Gyula Derkovits, fish seller, 1930.jpg, Fishmonger (1930) File:Derkovits, Gyula - Sleeping Woman.jpg, Sleeping Woman (1932)

References

External links

@ Száz Szép Kép
Exhibition
@ the

Hungarian National Gallery The Hungarian National Gallery (also known as Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, ), 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 w ...

, April–July 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Derkovit, Gyula 1894 births 1934 deaths 20th-century Hungarian engravers Hungarian graphic artists Hungarian communists Hungarian wood engravers People from Szombathely 20th-century Hungarian painters Hungarian male painters 20th-century Hungarian male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links