István Farkas was born in 1887. His father József Wolfner was the owner of the Publishing Company named Singer and Wolfner, later New Times. He was a well-known collector of art. His mother, Anna Goldberger, died at a young age. As an adult, István changed his family name from Wolfner (the German word for wolf) to Farkas (the Hungarian word for wolf).
Farkas was a pupil of Károly Ferenczy at the Art School in 1908 - 1909. Then he studied at the Académie de la Palette in Paris in 1912.
In 1915 István joined the army as a volunteer. He fought at the Serbian, Russian, and Italian front where he was captured. There are no artworks left from his first artistic period since the pictures left in his studio in Paris were seized in 1915 as the property of the enemy. From the beginning of 1920, he painted portraits and groups. Farkas had his first solo exhibition of 117 pictures in the Ernst Museum in 1924. In 1925 - 1932, István lived in Paris. In 1928 ten of his lithographies were published in the poetry volume of André Salmon. He held one-man exhibitions in the Galerie Portique and the Salon de Tuileries.
István's first significant period began in 1930. His style was ripe and his topics were actual at the time. His motifs and symbols were full of anxiety and secrets. The lands with cosmic space were filled with spirits, trains derailing into nothing and threatening objects floating. His artworks represented the temporary experience of Europe. In the second half of the 30's István turned towards nature. He painted aquarelles of Szigliget and the Lake Balaton. He was awarded with the prize of the Szinyei Association in 1938.
After the death of his father, István returned home and took over the Singer and Wolfner Press. He published the books of Steinbeck and Solohoz and was a generous patron. He patronized the art of his times as both an art collector and a publisher. As an artist, however, he was homeless, he did not find the right people. István exhibited his works in the National Museum and the Ernst Museum. By 1943 - 1944, it became obvious that his life was in danger. It was not clear to anyone why he did not flee and hide. He died in Auschwitz at the age of 57.
Seaside landscape
After the Storm
The Lunatic at Syracuse
Model with Big Hands
Portrait of Countess G. Z.
Woman in Black
Fate (Walking at the Water Tower)
Still-life with Coffee-maker
French Poet and His Mother
On the Hillside
Night on the Outskirts of Town
Man and Woman in the Window
Dawn on the Outskirts of Town (Morning)
Standing in the Sun
The Aged Sailor and the Old Woman
Has Anything Happened?
Night Scene
Self-portrait
Separated
Green and Black French Landscape
Landscape at Dusk
On the Beach under Purple Sky
Quotations: "When human dignity is so humiliated, it is not worth living anymore."
Quotes from others about the person
Farkas transports us without forcing us to interrupt our daily routine.
In 1923, István met Ida Kohner, daughter of Baron Adolf Kohner, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary in the studio of Adolf Fényes. After marrying in 1925, they had three children together.
