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KERÉNYI, Jenő Sculptor (Budapest, 20th November, 1908 – Budapest 10th July, 1975) 1925-1930: Applied Arts Drawing School; 1930-1937: Hungarian Fine Arts College of Budapest, master: Jenő Bory. 1937: Scholarship to Rome; 1942: Zrínyi Award; 1950: Munkácsy Award; Suzzara (I), 1st Prize at the International Small Exhibition; 1952: Munkácsy Award; 1955: Kossuth Award; 1958: Grand Prix at the World Exhibition held in Brussels [together with József Somogyi]; 1964: Meritorious Artist Award; 1966: Outstanding Artist Award; 1968: Golden Merit for Work; 1969: Golden Award of the Pro Arte Foundation of Budapest; 1969: the Grand Award of the County of Baranya at the 2nd National Small Sculpture Biennial in Pécs. Kerényi lived his entire life in Budapest, and had been an exhibiting artist ever since 1934. He actively participated in both the genre of small sculpturing and that of monumental sculptures: he prepared sculptures in the round, and a number of relief works. The dominant materials used in his works were stone and bronze, as well as aluminum during the course of the 1950’s. His art was inspired primarily by Classical influences, and was centered of the depiction of the figure itself: he produced his male and female figures with self-confident structural composition, filled them with strong movements, with large-scale modeling and formation, as well as a sensitive working of their surfaces. His oeuvre may be linked to the expressive periods of two great figures of European Sculpturing: Bourdelle and Mestrovič. His life-work, filled with a large number of pieces, and works may not be split up into defined periods, the series of works produced by him over a period spanning almost four entire decades constitutes a relative unified whole. He worked slightly stiffly during the course of his first periods, preparing compositions, which concentrated dynamic inner energies: someof the most significant works prepared by Kerényi during the course of this period are the female nudes prepared between 1942 and 1948 (e.g.: Napozó /Sunbather/, Fürdőző /Bather/, Nyújtózkodó /Female Figure Stretching/). During the years following the Second World War he produced the work which constitutes an exemplary work of the period spanning over the past fifty years in Hungary, the monumental piece entitled Partizánemlékmű /Partisan Memorial/, located in Sátoraljaújhely. Afterwards he prepared, also quite significant, works for governmental commissions, such as the Csontváry-síremlék /Sepulchre of Csontváry/, located in Budapest, or the piece entitled Legenda /Legend/, found in Tihany. From the 1950’s onwards the expressiveness of his sculpturing became more and more vigorous: besides such works as the Harcosok /Fighters/, and the Kis Lovas-szobrok /Small Equestrian Sculptures/, he prepared a number of monumental decorative fountains and decorational sculptures in both Budapest and the city of Győr. Works such as the Antik Legenda /Antique Legend/, Mózes /Moses/, Géniusz /Genius/, and the Golgota /Golgotha/, prepared during the last period of his creative career, show that Kerényi turned towards the world of myths and legends, and themes from the Bible. The dramatic and tense sensation found in these works was produced by a deep sense of thought, vibrant forms, and a torn formulation of the surfaces of the works. (translated by: Vladimir Végh)