Francis de Erdely

Francis de Erdely (Hungarian: Erdélyi Ferenc) (1904–1959)[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
Born
Erdélyi Ferenc

May 3, 1904
Budapest, Hungary
DiedNovember 28, 1959
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

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.
  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. 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. 156.
  • Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. (1998). Record of the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibitions 1896-1996. Sound View Press. p. 106.
  • 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. 2/46. 2013-01-10.
  • Watson, Ernest W. (1950). Twenty Painters and How They Work. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
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