Background
He was born in the town of Ógyalla (then Hungary, now Hurbanovo, Slovakia).
He was born in the town of Ógyalla (then Hungary, now Hurbanovo, Slovakia).
He studied in Munich from 1874, and later (1880-1881) in Vienna.
His ancestors were German settlers (the original family name was Rehrenbeck). Silvester was ennobled by the emperor on 21 April 1887, and the family thereafter took the name Martosi Feszty (or, in German: Feszty von Martos). Feszty mostly painted scenes from Hungarian history and religion.
After returning home to Hungary, he was made famous by his two works entitled Golgota ("Calvary") and Bányaszerencsétlenség ("Accident in a Quarry").
He painted his well-known monumental picture, the Arrival of the Hungarians, depicting the Magyar conquest of Hungary in 896, for the 1000th anniversary of the Conquest, with the help of many others, including Jenő Barcsay, Dániel Mihalik and László Mednyánszky. lieutenant was seriously damaged during World World War II (the painting, a cyclorama with a circumference of almost 120 metre and 15 metre tall, and thus some 1800 m2 in area, was cut up into 8-metre-long pieces, which were rolled up and stored in various museum warehouses).
lieutenant wasn"t until 1995 that it was restored and exhibited at the Ópusztaszer National Heritage Park in Hungary. He lived in Florence from 1899 to 1902.
After returning home, he painted smaller pictures and increasingly suffered from financial difficulties.
His art combined academic and naturalist tendencies. Among others, her portrait of the Hungarian sculptor Ede Kallós is owned by the Hungarian National Gallery.