Magyar Posta is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Hungary’s greatest master of Impressionism by issuing a special stamp
Magyar Posta is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the painter Károly Ferenczy, Hungary’s greatest master of Impressionism, by issuing a special stamp. The painting Morning Sun- shine (1905) appears on the stamp and Self Portrait (1910) is used on the first day cover. The first new commemorative stamp of 2012 was designed by the graphic artist Ervin Widerkomm based on a photograph by Tibor Mester, and was made by the Hungarian banknote printing company Pénzjegynyomda.
Abandoning his legal studies, in 1884 Ferenczy went to study painting in Rome and Munich before attending the Académie Julian in Paris for two years. Between 1889 and 1892 he worked in Szentendre and in 1896 founded the artists’ colony in Nagybánya along with Simon Hollósy, István Réti, János Thorma, István Csók and Béla Iványi-Grünwald. From 1902 he taught at the Free School of Painting in Nagybánya and from 1906 at the School of Design of the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. In 1906 he moved to Budapest and exchanged painting en plein air, his almost exclusive practice until then, for studio work. He was a foun- der member of the Society of Hungarian Impressionists and Naturalists (whose acronym MIÉNK means ‘ours’ in Hungarian), which operated between 1908 and 1911.
Károly Ferenczy is considered to be the greatest master of Hungarian Impressionism. In his early years at Nagybánya he painted monumental Biblical compositions, and gradually the wealth of colour typical of the Impressionists emerged in his paintings. His art had an immense effect on his contemporaries and the follow- ing generation of painters. All his children, Valér (painter and graphic artist), Béni (sculptor and graphic artist) and Noémi (painter and tapestry artist) are acknowledged figures in Hungarian fine arts. (Source: wikipedia.org, hung-art.hu)
His painting Morning Sunshine (1905) from the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery appears on the stamp design and Self Portrait (1910) is shown on the first day cover. The painter’s signature is used in the design of the special postmark. Prior to now, collectors have had the opportunity to acquire postage stamps capturing the works of Károly Ferenczy, which were issued in 1967, 2002 and 2007.
