Gyula Batthyány

Gyula Batthyány
Born	Gyula Batthyány (1887-05-10)10 May 1887 Ikervár
Died	20 January 1959(1959-01-20) (aged 71) Budapest, Hungary
Resting place	Farkasréti Cemetery
Nationality	Hungarian

Gyula Batthyány (Ikervár, 10 May 1887 – Budapest, 20 January 1959) was a Hungarian painter and graphic artist whose works are in the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery as well as other museums around the world.

Biography

He is the great-grandson of Count Lajos Batthyány, the first Hungarian Prime Minister. His father is Count Lajos Batthyány, governor of Fiume, member of parliament, and his mother is Count Ilona Andrássy. In 1890, when he was barely three years old, he made his first drawing. He completed his studies at the Julian Academy in Paris, and in 1907 in Munich, with Angelo Jank. He considered János Vaszary his master.

In 1914 he had an exhibition together with Beck Ö. Fülöp in the Ernst Museum. His works were regularly displayed in the Art Gallery and the National Salon between 1921 and 1938. In 1922, he established an artist colony in Bicske, where he lived at that time. From the 1920s, he started designing theater decorations under the influence of Sergei Diaghilev's set designer, Leonid Bakszt.

In 1952, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He spent five years in prison in Márianosztra, and his property was confiscated. After his release, he lived in retirement in Polgárdi in the apartment of his former officer until his death. His more significant works are kept by the Hungarian National Gallery.

His art

In addition to painting, he was a well-known theater set and custome designer, and also created numerous book illustrations. His series of Hungarian historical drawings were reproduced and published in an album. As a graphic artist, he also illustrated the works of Ferenc Herczeg and Cécile Tormay. His painting can be related to late Art Nouveau, his pictures are characterized by gracefully elongated figures and satirical representation. He often chose glittering, aristocratic social scenes as the subject of his paintings. He uniquely portrayed luxurious pleasure girls, elegant gentlemen, gangsters, the posing, theatrical, hollow characters of the aristocratic milieu full of sultry eroticism. In addition to Daumier, his elongated figures also remind us of El Greco's manneristic undulating depictions of people. His works are often dream-like, energetically swirling organic forms form an integral part of their design world. Its decorativeness shows affinities with the illustration of surrealism and Art Deco.

Awards

• 1916: silver medal, San Francisco
• 1930: silver medal, Barcelona
• 1934: gold medal, Paris
• 1937: bronze medal at the World Exhibition in Paris

References

• Cyclopaedia of Hungarian Painters and Graphic Artists. Vol. 52.
• Art Encyclopedia. Vol. I/178.
• Vollmer encyclopedia. Vol. 1/129. 2013-01-09.