Bertalan Székely facts for kids
Bertalan Székely (born May 8, 1835, in Kolozsvár, which is now Cluj-Napoca, Romania; died August 21, 1910, in Budapest) was a famous Hungarian painter. He was known for his history paintings and portraits. His art style was a mix of Romantic and Academic styles.
Bertalan Székely's Life Story
Bertalan Székely came from a noble family in Transylvania. His father worked as a court clerk, which is like a legal assistant. Even though his family wanted him to become an engineer, he chose to study art. From 1851 to 1855, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. There, he learned from teachers like Johann Nepomuk Geiger and Carl Rahl.
After finishing his studies, he went back to his hometown. For three years, he worked as an art teacher. Later, he worked for Count Aichelburg for a year. He then got married and moved to Munich. In Munich, he studied with Karl von Piloty. This is where he became very interested in painting historical events. In 1862, he settled in Pest, a part of what is now Budapest.
The next year, he won an art contest. His winning painting was called "The Escape of Emperor Charles VII." He used his prize money to travel to the Netherlands and Paris. He returned in 1864. In 1871, he became one of the first teachers at the new "Hungarian Royal Drawing School." This school is now known as the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. He later became the Director of the school from 1902 to 1905.
From the 1860s to the 1880s, Bertalan Székely mostly painted portraits of people and figures of women. After that, he started painting landscapes. He also created large decorative paintings on walls, called murals. You can see his murals in famous places like the Matthias Church and the Budapest Opera House. He also painted murals in the City Hall in Kecskemét. Later in his life, he became interested in how people and animals move. He studied the movement research done by Edweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey. He even did some of his own studies on movement.
Famous Paintings by Bertalan Székely
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Portrait of Adalbert Stifter (1863)
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The Women of Eger (1867)
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Thunderstorm (1875)
