Lajos Gulacsy

Background

Lajos Gulacsy was born on October 12, 1882 in Budapest, Hungary.

Education

Gulācsy attended the Mintarajziskola (School of Drawing) in Budapest before traveling to Rome and Florence in 1902 and then to Paris in 1906 to continue his studies.

Career

Heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, his rather dreamlike work is associated with Art Nouveau and Symbolism, but can also be considered a prelude to Surrealism.

He was so traumatized by the outbreak of World War I that he had to be taken to a psychiatric institution in Lipótmező, where he remained for the rest of his life. In the institution he continued to paint. His first exhibition was at the Ernst Museum in Budapest in 1922.

Gulacsy’s paintings are characterized by a unique lyrical Surrealism. Many of his works feature Rococo-style figures that live in Naconxypan, a fantasyland of his invention. Yet his art is not associated with any particular school; indeed, it also evokes a medieval or Pre-Raphaelite sensibility.

In 1924 Gulacsy went completely blind. After his death, a memorial exhibition was opened in the Budapest National Salon in 1936.

Achievements

• Lajos was a prominent painter. Gulacsy’s most important works include Dante és Beatrice találkozása (“The Meeting of Dante and Beatrice”), Szerelmesek (“The Lovers”), A varázsló kertje (“The Sorcerer’s Garden”), Rózsalovag (“Chevalier aux Roses”), and Az ópiumszívó álma (“The Dream of the Opium-smoker”).

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Emily

  • Ancient Garden

  • Ecstasy

  • Golgotha

  • Magic

  • Chevalier aux Roses

  • The Mulatto and the Sculpturesque White Woman

  • The Madman and the Soldier

  • Dante's Meeting with Beatrice

  • Self-portrait

  • Young Woman with Rose-tree

  • Sunday Afternoon in Como

  • Rococo

  • The Opium Smoker's Dream

  • Woman with Candle

  • Return of the Pilgrims

  • Slavic Fortune-teller

  • Self-portrait with Hat

  • The Betrothal of Mary

  • Man with Hat and Woman with Black Scarf

  • Transcience

  • Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta

  • Siege of a Castle