Károly Ferenczy was a Hungarian painter. He was a representative of the Impressionism and member of the Nagybánya artists' colony.
Background
Ferenczy was born as Carl Freund in Vienna, Austria, on February 8, 1862. He was the son of Ida Graenzenstein and the Austrian railway construction official Karel Freund, who moved to Budapest with the construction company. Ferenczy's mother died quite soon after his birth.
Education
Károly Ferenczy first studied law and completed his economics degree at the University of Vienna. In 1885 he enrolled at the Art Academy of Naples (Accademia di Belle Arti), but the following year moved to Munich, where he met István Csók and Simon Hollósy, among others.
He spent the years between 1887 and 1889 at the Académie Julian in Paris. There Jules Bastien-Lepage had the greatest influence on him and then Ferenczy produced his first artworks in the style of French late naturalism. After studying in Paris, he studied with the Hungarian painter Simon Hollósy.
In 1893 Ferenczy moved with his family from Hungary to Munich. He met the young Hungarian artists Istvan Reti and Janos Thorma in Hollosy's circle while in Munich. The Ferenczys lived there until 1896. That year they decided to return to Hungary and settle in Nagybánya (Frauenbach). Károly Ferenczy became one of the founders of an artists' colony at what is now Baia Mare, Romania, where they were able to teach and tutor a great number of Hungarian artists. Ferenczy became one of the colony's leading artists and teachers. Besides, the painter opened a studio in Budapest, where he worked throughout his career.
In 1903 Károly Ferenczy's first exhibition took place in Budapest. In 1906 he joined the staff of the Hungarian Royal Drawing School (now the Hungarian University of Fine Arts) and from then on he spent only the summer months in Nagybánya.
Ferenczy usually painted nudes, still lifes, the urban scenes of circus performers. In his later years, Károly Ferenczy depicted various subjects ranging from nudes to portraits, and Biblical scenes. He worked in a variety of genres, using different materials.
Károly Ferenczy was married to Olga Fialka, who also was a painter. Their marriage produced three children: Valér, born in 1888, Béni and Noémi, fraternal twins born in 1890. His wife gave up her painting to back her family and husband's career. All of the Ferenczy's children became artists. Valér Ferenczy became a painter, Noémi Ferenczy was a pioneer of the modern Hungarian tapestry, in which she became a distinguished "master", while Béni Ferenczy became a sculptor. Valér Ferenczy wrote a biography of his father in 1925, for which he was awarded the Baumgarten Prize in 1935.