In 1865 Mihály Munkácsy became a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.
Gallery of Mihály Munkácsy
Akademiestraße 2-4, 80799 München, Germany
Munkácsy entered the Munich Academy through the financial support of Antal Ligeti, the director of Hungary’s National Museum and landscape artist, in 1866.
Gallery of Mihály Munkácsy
Eiskellerstraße 1, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
In 1868 Munkácsy enrolled in the Düsseldorf Academy, the centre of the Düsseldorf School of Painting.
Munkácsy entered the Munich Academy through the financial support of Antal Ligeti, the director of Hungary’s National Museum and landscape artist, in 1866.
Mihály Munkácsy, originally named Michael von Lieb, was a Hungarian artist. Munkácsyn created his artworks in the style of Realism. He received international reputation with his genre pictures as well as large-scale biblical paintings.
Background
Munkácsy was born in Munkács, Kingdom of Hungary (now Mukachevo, Ukraine), on February 20, 1844. He was the son of Leo Mihály Lieb, a bureaucrat, and Cecília Lieb (Reök). He had four siblings, three brothers, Emil, Aurél, Gyula, and a sister Gizella. Munkácsy's mother died when he was only six.
Within a year, Leo Mihály Lieb had remarried, however, his new wife did not want to raise his children, so they were divided among the members of Reök family. Munkácsy was sent to live with István Reök, a former lawyer. But István was not the most stable person to raise a child. In 1852, when Mihály Munkácsy was eight, his father passed away. It was then that he reunited with his younger sister, Giza, and began living with their loving aunt, Jakabné Steiner. But their happiness was short-lived because soon Jakabné was killed by robbers.
Education
Abandoned as a child, Mihály Munkácsy spent his early years starving and working as slave labour for various carpenters. He worked fourteen hours per day, but still didn't have enough money for food. By 1858 Munkácsy had received his master document in joinery. However, in 1860, after several years of starvation, the boy became seriously ill and had to return to his uncle.
While recovering, Munkácsy showed remarkable skills in drawing that were noted by his uncle, István Reök. István helped his nephew enroll in an apprenticeship with an itinerant portrait painter, Elek Szamossy. For the next year and a half, the two travelled around Hungary meeting influential collectors, while Szamossy taught a young man not only art but also history, literature and mythology. In 1863, Munkácsy went to Pest, the largest city in Hungary (now part of Budapest), as he was granted access to copy masterworks at the National Museum. That experience accelerated his artistic development.
In 1865 Mihály Munkácsy became a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, thanks to several generous patrons and a scholarship from the Association of Fine Arts in Pest. Although he could afford only one year of study, Munkácsy was fortunate to study under professor Karl Rahl, who plunged Munkácsy into the world of Hungarian folk genre painting.
Munkácsy entered the Munich Academy through the financial support of Antal Ligeti, the director of Hungary’s National Museum and landscape artist, in 1866. Among his teachers there were the Hungarian history painter Sándor Wágner and the German muralist Wilhelm Kaulbach. Eduard Schleich the Elder, a great landscapist, became the teacher who made the biggest impression on him. The same year, Mihály Munkácsy received a scholarship that enabled him to move to Paris, where he saw the artworks of both Jean-François Millet and Gustave Courbet.
His trip to Paris pushed Mihály Munkácsy to abandon his studies at the Munich Academy and to study with the talented German painter Wilhelm Leibl. Concurrently, Munkácsy continued working as a carpenter part-time to make a living.
Encouraged by Wilhelm Leibl, the 24-year-old artist enrolled in the Düsseldorf Academy, the center of the Düsseldorf School of Painting. There he studied under the direction of the painter Ludwig Knaus, whose influence became immediately obvious.
Munkácsy began his work on his first masterpiece, "The Last Day of a Condemned Man", in 1869. By painting the work, he created a powerful psychological representation of the doomed youth; that pieces of art resonated powerfully with the public. Before that artwork, Munkácsy had been painting on the tops of cardboard boxes rather than canvas, but for this painting, he created a wooden panel.
The success of "The Last Day of a Condemned Man" immediately raised the artist’s status and he received enthusiastic attention from both dealers and critics. The artist submitted the work to the 1870 Paris Salon, where it was purchased by the American collector William P. Wilstack. At twenty-six, Munkácsy became a sensation in the world of art.
The famous art dealer and publisher Adolphe Goupil bought several Munkácsy's paintings and ordered more. He also encouraged Munkácsy to settle in Paris, however, the Franco-Prussian War made the travel impossible. After the war was over, Mihály Munkácsy, together with his friend, the landscapist László Paál, moved to Paris.
Munkácsy was invited to live with one of his new collectors, Baron Henri-Édouard de Marches and his wife, Marie-Anne Cécile Papier, in Guirsch Castle near Arlon, Luxembourg. The couple provided their guest with a studio, and Goupil offered him a contract. This was the first time that Mihály Munkácsy did not have to worry about money. He continued to create his folk genre paintings, including "Making Lint" (1871) and "Woman Gathering Brushwood" (1873).
In 1873 the artist exhibited five artworks at the Vienna world’s fair and then travelled to the Barbizon region of France, where he created painting "Woman Carrying Faggots" under the influence of Millet. Around 1874, while maintaining a Barbizon look, Mihály Munkácsy began incorporating atmospheric techniques he admired. For example, in Dusty Road (1874) Munkácsy used looser brushwork to depict sunlight filtering through a cloud of dust.
Mihály Munkácsy and his wife divided their time between a rented palace in Paris and Colpach Castle in Luxembourg. But now Trying to earn more money to maintain his lifestyle, the artist felt pressure to change his style and themes. He started producing portraits of his wife in the studio and at home, using the vibrant colours and lavish furnishings of the aristocracy. Munkácsy never painted another folk scene after 1878. Munkácsy's new “salon pictures” were very successful in the financial aspect. Some of the most well-known examples include In the Atelier (1876), Paris Interior (1877) and Father's Birthday (1882).
Munkácsy then turned his attention to the life of the outstanding seventeenth-century English poet John Milton. In 1878, the artist painted "The Blind Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost' to His Daughters", presenting it at the Paris Salon. The Austrian dealer Charles Sedelmeyer purchased "The Blind Milton" and quickly resold it for a huge profit to the New York collector Robert Lenox Kennedy.
Shortly, Charles Sedelmeyer offered the artist a ten-year exclusive contract; it guaranteed 100,000 francs a year, relieving him of all financial pressures. In return, Sedelmeyer received control of all of the Munkácsy’s artworks and also the right to reproduce them through engravings. Around this period of time, Mihály Munkácsy concentrated on happy domestic scenes right into the mid-1880s, though he also painted sumptuous still-life pieces.
Sedelmeyer wanted Munkácsy to paint large-scale pictures which could be exhibited on their own. They decided that a subject taken from the Bible would be most suitable. In 1882 Mihály Munkácsy painted "Christ in front of Pilate", unveiled at the monumental size of 164 inches high by 250 inches wide. "Christ in front of Pilate" moved the artist to an even higher tier of prestige, with many people comparing him to Michelangelo and Rembrandt.
Charles Sedelmeyer organized a four-year tour of the painting across Europe, earning himself and Munkácsy a fortune from entrance fees. From its first appearance in Paris, "Christ in front of Pilate" attracted the attention of several thousand people daily, overshadowing the Salon occurring at the same time.
The first work of the trilogy was followed by "Golgotha", 181 inches high by 280 inches wide, in 1884. When Golgotha was completed, Charles Sedelmeyer exhibited it alongside "Christ in front of Pilate" at his luxurious gallery in Paris. He then toured it for three years to the same European venues as before.
In 1886 the two paintings were exhibited across the United States. When Mihály Munkácsy came to New York City, he was welcomed with a feast, which was attended by such celebrities as the Hungarian-born newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and the city’s mayor, Abraham S. Hewitt. Two weeks later, he became the honoured guest of President Grover Cleveland at the White House.
The painter continued working during his trip to the United States, creating portraits of Princeton University president James McCosh, the millionaire collector Henry G. Marquand and Pulitzer’s wife, Kate Davis. Sedelmeyer and Munkácsy made so great profits, that initially refused to sell the two Christ paintings, even when they were offered US $150,000 by the Austrian and French governments. The artworks were eventually sold after the American tour to the Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker. "Christ in front of Pilate" was sold for $160,000 and "Golgotha" for $175,000, immediately making Mihály Munkácsy the highest-paid painter in Europe.
Meanwhile, he was commissioned to paint the large ceiling painting of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The work, completed in 1888, entitled "Glorification of the Renaissance".
The artist's famous trilogy was completed with "Ecce Homo", 159 inches high by 256 inches wide, in 1896. Just like its predecessors, the artwork was welcomed enthusiastically throughout its European tour. Earlier, in 1888, Mihály Munkácsy had felt exploited by Charles Sedelmeyer and therefore he established a new arrangement with Gábor Kadar. The painting was purchased by an English-American consortium.
Towards the end of his artistic career, he created two monumental works: "Hungarian Conquest for the House of Parliament", and a fresco, "Apotheosis of Renaissance", for the ceiling of Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna. His last paintings were troubled and sometimes even bizarre, for instance, his "Victim of Flowers" (1896).
In the summer of 1896, Mihály Munkácsy's health declined. After treatment in Baden-Baden, the painter retired to Colpach and Paris. Later he was taken to a mental hospital at Endenich near Bonn, where he spent his last days.
Mihály Munkácsy was the leading Hungarian artist of the 19th century. His artworks are considered the apogee of national painting. He was a standard-setter, who became a great influence for the following generations of artists.
Munkácsy was one of the few painters with whom the antiquated colour techniques of 19th-century Austro-Hungarian painting reached its most powerful and most rich expression. Mihály Munkácsy's Christ paintings elevated historical genre painting to a new level of sophistication through his mastery of psychological insight and his very personal empathy for the state of an oppressed man.
He received several awards for his works. "The Last Day of a Condemned Man" won a gold medal at the 1870 Paris Salon. In 1878 the artist's "The Blind Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost' to His Daughters" promptly won a medal of honour at the Paris Salon.
Mihály Munkácsy was honoured by issuing a postage stamps in Hungary. On July 1, 1932, a stamp, which bore his portrait, was presented; on March 18, 1977, his painting "Flowers" was depicted on a postage stamp in the series Flowers by Hungarian Painters. Besides, he was honoured by Luxembourg by issuing two postage stamps on May 20, 1996.
In 2005 the Hungarian National Gallery held the first ever comprehensive exhibition of Munkácsy's paintings scattered throughout the world; it was organized in Budapest. For the show, 120 pieces were borrowed from different galleries, institutions, museums and private collections. The three-month exhibition became a real feast for Hungarians who had little access to his original artworks.
Nowadays, paintings by Mihály Munkácsy can be found at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Dayton Institute of Art, Ohio, and the Albany, New York, Museum of Art and History, and the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington. His paintings also hang in the Arad Art Museum, Romania, and the Ferenc Mora Art Museum, Szeged, Hungary.
Mihály Munkácsy was an adherent of the Düsseldorf school of painting. The leading members of the Düsseldorf School created finely detailed yet fanciful landscapes, often with religious or allegorical stories set in the landscapes, and encouraged "plein air painting", and tended to use a palette of relatively subdued and even colours.
Personality
Michael von Lieb officially began using the surname Munkácsy in 1868. He adopted his pseudonym inspired by the name of his native town, Munkács.
Though Munkácsy, who was very conscious about earthly comfort and social prestige, became a celebrity, he was always unsure and always questioning his own talent.
Physical Characteristics:
In the late 1880s, Mihály Munkácsy had a depression, which grew into a severe mental illness, was probably intensified by syphilis which he contracted in his youth.
Interests
Artists
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Eduard Schleich the Elder, Jean-François Millet
Connections
After the death of Baron Henri-Édouard de Marches, Mihály Munkácsy's close friend, the artist's friendship with his widow, Marie-Anne Cécile Papier de Marches, began to deepen. The following year, they got married.
Father:
Leo Mihály Lieb
Mother:
Cecília Lieb (Reök)
Brother:
Emil Lieb
Brother:
Aurél Lieb
Brother:
Gyula Lieb
Sister:
Gizella Lieb
Wife:
Marie-Anne Cécile Papier de Marches
Uncle:
István Reök
aunt:
Jakabné Steiner
Friend:
László Paál
László Paál (1846-1879) was a Hungarian landscape painter. He was associated with the style of Impressionism.
Friend:
Henri-Édouard de Marches
References
Mihaly Munkacsy
Vivid reproductions of the paintings of the Hungarian artist, Mihaly Munkacsy, are accompanied by an examination of his life and artistic career.
1981
Munkacsy in the World
Mihaly Munkacsy's works in private and public collections at home and abroad.
