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KONTULY, Béla
KONTULY, Béla
[Béla, Nemessányi Kontuly]
painter
(3 Febr. 1904, Miskolc - 14 April, 1983, Budapest)
Whilst Hungarian art went off in a conservative direction after 1919, modernism found fertile ground in Czech culture between the wars. Béla Kontuly, who spent his childhood and teenage years in Kassa, became acquainted with the European avant-garde's approach to art as a pupil of the Prague Academy of Fine Art. It was precisely this, however, that was not to his liking. After a year he went to Budapest in 1922, where he was a pupil of István Réti at the Academy of Fine Art, and afterwards assistant to Andor Dudics there. Given his retreat from the modern and his activity as a painter of church murals in the mid-twenties, it was understandable that he should come to the attention of Professor Tibor Gervich, who, in order to make the traditional concept of art more presentable, was recruiting young artists for scholarships to Rome. Between 1929 and 1930 Kontuly studied not just old masters in the Italian capital but the novocento that mixed modernism with classicism, and above all the Neoclassicism of Felice Casorati. This is how his style evolved with its human figures with bodies like sheet metal, a style in which he painted many religious pictures (the frescoes in the apse at Komárom parish church, 1936; the ceiling in St Ann's Church, jointly with Pál C. Molnár, 1938) and official portraits (Miklós Horthy, 1935; Grand Duke Albrecht, 1944). From the 1940s a further conservative development took place: the neo-Baroque became predominant in his work. Between 1941 and 1947 he headed up the fresco department in the Academy of Fine Art. In the last decades of his life he produced mainly still lifes and portraits.
[József Vadas: Hungarian Masterpieces (Vadas József : A magyar festészet remekei), translator: Godfrey Offord, Corvina Publishers, 2004]. One-Man Shows:
1975 • Gekkoso Gallery, Tokio (cat.)
2004 • Centenary Exhibition, Ernst Museum (cat).
Selected Group Exhibitions:
1957 • Spring Exhibition, Műcsarnok, Budapest
1967 • Hungarian painters in Italy, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
1996 • Carl László Collection, Műcsarnok, Budapest. Works in Public Places:
Vision of Saint Francis (fresco, 1948, Franciscan Chapel of Törökvészi Road, Budapest)
Seven sorrows and seven joys of the Virgin Mary; Moses striking water from the rock; The Baptism of Christ; Mission activity of Franciscan Brothers [frescos, 1948, Franciscan Church of Lower-town, Szeged (HU)]
Annunciation [fresco, 1949, Franciscan Church, Jászberény (HU)]
Main altar [1951, Parish Church, Harságy-puszta (HU)]
Miracle of St. Francis and Saint Elisabeth. (pannos, 1951, Franciscan Church of Margit krt., Budapest)
Murals [1951-1955, 1968, Franciscan Church, Sümeg (HU)]
Life of Saint Joseph, Mary and Jesus [1956, Franciscan Church, Salgótarján (HU)]
Murals (1958, Parish Church of Kassai Square, Budapest)
Murals (1958-1959, Church of Congregation of Franciscan Sisters, Budapest)
Murals [1959-1961, Church of Saint Anthony of Padova, Baja (HU)]
Murals [Church of Saint Stephen, Miskolc (HU)]. Works in Public Collections:
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest.
Bibliography:
Elek, A.: Fiatal festők, Nyugat, 1926. október 1.
Hajcs, G.: A legújabb magyar festőgeneráció, Magyar Újság, 1927. április 17.
Győri, D.: Magyar művészek Rómában - Nemessányi ~nál, Prágai Magyar Hírlap, 1929. március 17.
Gerevich, T.: Római magyar művészek, Magyar Művészet, 1931/4.
Berczeli, A. K.: Mai művész - ~, Új Élet, 1935. április 1.
Jajczay, J.: Mai magyar egyházművészet, Budapest, 1938
R. Szörédi, I.: A Szt. Anna templom új freskói, Új Magyarság, 1939. január 8.
Ybl, E.: A Szt. Anna templom új freskói, Budapesti Hírlap, 1939. január 15.
Radocsay, D.: ~ a római iskoláról, a magyar falfestészetről és a szombathelyi freskókról, Nemzeti Újság, 1941. október 26.
Gerevich, T.: Új magyar templomépítészet, Magyar Építőművészet, 1941/12.
Kállai, E.: Őszinte beszámoló egy beszélgetésről, Magyar Csillag, 1942/1.
Íjjas, A.: ~ két freskója, Nemzeti Újság, 1943. október 31.
Dr. Pipics, Z.: Száz magyar festő, Budapest, 1944
Németh, L.: Modern magyar művészet, Budapest, 1968
Bizzer, I.: ~, Budapest, 2004.
[Béla, Nemessányi Kontuly]
painter
(3 Febr. 1904, Miskolc - 14 April, 1983, Budapest)
Whilst Hungarian art went off in a conservative direction after 1919, modernism found fertile ground in Czech culture between the wars. Béla Kontuly, who spent his childhood and teenage years in Kassa, became acquainted with the European avant-garde's approach to art as a pupil of the Prague Academy of Fine Art. It was precisely this, however, that was not to his liking. After a year he went to Budapest in 1922, where he was a pupil of István Réti at the Academy of Fine Art, and afterwards assistant to Andor Dudics there. Given his retreat from the modern and his activity as a painter of church murals in the mid-twenties, it was understandable that he should come to the attention of Professor Tibor Gervich, who, in order to make the traditional concept of art more presentable, was recruiting young artists for scholarships to Rome. Between 1929 and 1930 Kontuly studied not just old masters in the Italian capital but the novocento that mixed modernism with classicism, and above all the Neoclassicism of Felice Casorati. This is how his style evolved with its human figures with bodies like sheet metal, a style in which he painted many religious pictures (the frescoes in the apse at Komárom parish church, 1936; the ceiling in St Ann's Church, jointly with Pál C. Molnár, 1938) and official portraits (Miklós Horthy, 1935; Grand Duke Albrecht, 1944). From the 1940s a further conservative development took place: the neo-Baroque became predominant in his work. Between 1941 and 1947 he headed up the fresco department in the Academy of Fine Art. In the last decades of his life he produced mainly still lifes and portraits.
[József Vadas: Hungarian Masterpieces (Vadas József : A magyar festészet remekei), translator: Godfrey Offord, Corvina Publishers, 2004]. One-Man Shows:
1975 • Gekkoso Gallery, Tokio (cat.)
2004 • Centenary Exhibition, Ernst Museum (cat).
Selected Group Exhibitions:
1957 • Spring Exhibition, Műcsarnok, Budapest
1967 • Hungarian painters in Italy, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
1996 • Carl László Collection, Műcsarnok, Budapest. Works in Public Places:
Vision of Saint Francis (fresco, 1948, Franciscan Chapel of Törökvészi Road, Budapest)
Seven sorrows and seven joys of the Virgin Mary; Moses striking water from the rock; The Baptism of Christ; Mission activity of Franciscan Brothers [frescos, 1948, Franciscan Church of Lower-town, Szeged (HU)]
Annunciation [fresco, 1949, Franciscan Church, Jászberény (HU)]
Main altar [1951, Parish Church, Harságy-puszta (HU)]
Miracle of St. Francis and Saint Elisabeth. (pannos, 1951, Franciscan Church of Margit krt., Budapest)
Murals [1951-1955, 1968, Franciscan Church, Sümeg (HU)]
Life of Saint Joseph, Mary and Jesus [1956, Franciscan Church, Salgótarján (HU)]
Murals (1958, Parish Church of Kassai Square, Budapest)
Murals (1958-1959, Church of Congregation of Franciscan Sisters, Budapest)
Murals [1959-1961, Church of Saint Anthony of Padova, Baja (HU)]
Murals [Church of Saint Stephen, Miskolc (HU)]. Works in Public Collections:
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest.
Bibliography:
Elek, A.: Fiatal festők, Nyugat, 1926. október 1.
Hajcs, G.: A legújabb magyar festőgeneráció, Magyar Újság, 1927. április 17.
Győri, D.: Magyar művészek Rómában - Nemessányi ~nál, Prágai Magyar Hírlap, 1929. március 17.
Gerevich, T.: Római magyar művészek, Magyar Művészet, 1931/4.
Berczeli, A. K.: Mai művész - ~, Új Élet, 1935. április 1.
Jajczay, J.: Mai magyar egyházművészet, Budapest, 1938
R. Szörédi, I.: A Szt. Anna templom új freskói, Új Magyarság, 1939. január 8.
Ybl, E.: A Szt. Anna templom új freskói, Budapesti Hírlap, 1939. január 15.
Radocsay, D.: ~ a római iskoláról, a magyar falfestészetről és a szombathelyi freskókról, Nemzeti Újság, 1941. október 26.
Gerevich, T.: Új magyar templomépítészet, Magyar Építőművészet, 1941/12.
Kállai, E.: Őszinte beszámoló egy beszélgetésről, Magyar Csillag, 1942/1.
Íjjas, A.: ~ két freskója, Nemzeti Újság, 1943. október 31.
Dr. Pipics, Z.: Száz magyar festő, Budapest, 1944
Németh, L.: Modern magyar művészet, Budapest, 1968
Bizzer, I.: ~, Budapest, 2004.
