Francis de Erdely

Francis de Erdely (Hungarian: Erdélyi Ferenc) (May 3, 1904 – November 28, 1959)[1] was a Hungarian-American artist who was renowned in Europe and the United States for his powerful figure paintings and drawings as well as for his teaching abilities.

Francis de Erdely
De Erdely (left) with Dutch artist Christiaan de Moor, 1933
Born
Erdélyi Ferenc

May 3, 1904
Budapest, Hungary
DiedNovember 28, 1959(1959-11-28) (aged 55)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityHungarian
EducationRoyal Academy of Art, Budapest; Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid; Sorbonne, Paris
Known forSculpture, Painting, Drawing
MovementSurrealism, Expressionism, Cubism, Modernism

Biography

Francis De Erdely was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1904.[2] De Erdely first studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Budapest (1919–1924),[3] as well as the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando) in Madrid and the prestigious Sorbonne and Ecole du Louvre in Paris.

De Erdely's technical abilities, brushwork, and composition were based in European classicism.[4] Politics began to inform his work when Fascism began to gain ground in Europe. As De Erdely's career developed, he became less focused on history painting and the themes of classical Antiquity. Subjects surrounding war, suffering, and human strength became present.

De Erdely immigrated to the United States in 1939.[5] Living in New York and Chicago initially, he was hired to paint portrait of wealthy patrons. He also painted images of the American Scene. It was after his move to Los Angeles, when his mature work developed and he established himself as an American artist.[4]

He is best known for his figure-based paintings done in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 1950s of immigrants, laborers, dancers, and social outsiders. It has been argued that this period of his work relate directly to De Erdely's own experience as an immigrant in a new country.

Collections

Exhibitions
  • 1925: Budapest, Hungary
  • 1939: Hungarian Relief Library, New York, New York, United States
  • 1940–1944: Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, United States
  • 1940: De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, United States
  • 1940: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, United States
  • 1941: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 1942: Vancouver Museum of Fine Art
  • 1942–1945: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • 1942–1943: The Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan, United States
  • 1943: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States
  • 1943–1944: De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, United States
  • 1945–1946: Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, United States
  • 1945–1946: San Francisco Fine Arts Association, California, United States
  • 1946: Pasadena School of Arts, Pasadena, California, United States
  • 1950: Laguna Beach Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, United States
  • 1950: Crocker, Sacramento, California, United States
  • 1950: Haggin Museum, Stockton, California, United States
  • 1950: Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, California, United States
  • 1959–1960: Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California, United States
  • 1960: Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, United States
  • 1960: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • 2022: Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California, United States

Awards
  • 1925 – Szinyei-Merse Grand Prize, Budapest, Hungary
  • 1929 – Triennial Bronze Medal, Ghent, Belgium
  • 1940–1944 – Detroit Art Institute (prizes)
  • 1942 – Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan (medal)[2]
  • 1943 – Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan (medal)[2]
  • 1946 – Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan (prize)[2]
  • 1946 – Pasadena School of Arts (prize)
  • 1947–1951 – Oakland Art Gallery (prizes)
  • 1949 – Arizona State Fair (award)
  • 1954 – Audubon Association (medal)

References
  1. "Francis De Erdely". artnet. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  2. Falk, Peter H. (1985). Who was who in American art : compiled from the original thirty-four volumes of American art annual--Who's who in art, biographies of American artists active from 1898-1947. Internet Archive. Madison, Conn. : Sound View Press. ISBN 9780932087003.
  3. "Francis de Erdely papers, 1925-1968". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  4. "Artist Spotlight: Francis de Erdely". LA Modern. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  5. "Francis de Erdely, LACMA Collections". LACMA. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  6. "Francis de Erdely". Laguna Art Museum. Retrieved 2020-05-09.

Further reading
  • Anderson Campbell, Alissa (2006). Francis De Erdely. Santa Barbara: Anderson Art and Appraisals.
  • Art Encyclopedia. Vol. I/632.
  • Cummings, Paul. A Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 97.
  • Cyclopaedia of Hungarian Painters and Graphic artists. Vol. 156.
  • Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. (1998). Record of the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibitions 1896-1996. Sound View Press. p. 106. ISBN 9780932087553.
  • Hughes, Edan Milton (1989). Artists in California, 1786–1940. San Francisco: Hughes Pub. p. 289.
  • McClelland, Gordon T.; Last, Jay T. California Watercolors 1850-1970. Hillcrest Press. p. 104.
  • Millier, Arthur (1960). Francis De Erdely: 1904-1959. Pasadena Art Museum.
  • Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall (1998). California Art: 450 Years of Painting and Other Media. Los Angeles: Dustin Publications. pp. 287–295.
  • Vollmer Encyclopedia. Vol. 2/46. 2013-01-10.
  • Watson, Ernest W. (1950). Twenty Painters and How They Work. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
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