4386 - Ágost Benkhard the Elder, Village View

Ágost Benkhard the Elder, Village View View of a village on a hill; in the foreground, a farm with a herd of cows making its way towards the village; a cloudy atmosphere; painted with broad brushstrokes; a fine and typical example of the late offshoots of the Nagybánya School, which was significant for Hungarian painting, oil on canvas, signed and dated 1934 in the lower right-hand corner, slight signs of ageing, in need of light cleaning, in a black, slightly battered frame, inner dimensions 70.5 x 79 cm. Artist information: Hungarian painter (1882 in Budapest - 1961, ibid.), father of the Hungarian architect of the same name, a student at the Academy in Budapest and at the Free School of Art in Nagybánya (Baia Mare/present-day Romania) under Simon Hollósy, later an art teacher at the School of Applied Arts in Budapest, 1935-37 Rector of the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest; his painting was strongly influenced by the artists’ colony in Nagybánya; won a gold medal at the 1929 Universal Exposition in Barcelona; and, in addition to his paintings, was associated with the Hagenbund in Vienna as a designer of arts and crafts objects. Source: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon Online.