Draft:Gyurkovits Ferenc

Gyurkovits Ferenc (František Gyurkovits) was a Hungarian painter, who after studying in Paris and Munich settled in Lučenec. Commonly referred to as "the painter and chronicler of Lučenec", he contributed to the town with his artistic activity, but even more remarkably by establishing the first painter's school in town. Here, under his influence, all the promising talent of the region gathered. He became the first notable personality in the history of local art.

Life
Born in Budapest 28. March 1876 to mother Eszter Fábián and father Ferenc Gyurkovits, who was a butcher. He wished for his oldest son to continue the craft. However, his drawing talent has been apparent since primary school. As a young boy, Ferenc would spend all his free time drawing and painting, therefore an Austrian painter called Buchetman taught him the basics. Thanks to his younger brother, who took on his father's craft, Ferenc could continue his art studies.

In 1894 he enrolled in a course in decorative painting at the School of Art Industry in Budapest. Here he learned from artists Ede Balló, Károly Hollós and Gyula Aggházy. During his three-year mandatory military service, he was fortunate. His commanding Captain allowed him to continue in his artworks. Afterwards, he continued his studies in Budapest and received his diploma on 15. July 1902. Paris resembled artistic greatness for Hungarian artists, therefore all the aspiring painters such as Gyula Runday, Viktor Hermély, Gyula Szabó and many others came here to improve their craft. Gyurkovits joined them in 1902-1903 on the Académie Julian. In the evenings he attended a nude drawing course at Académie Colarossi. He was forced to leave Paris due to an unfavourable financial situation. In October 1903 Gyurkovits enrolled at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. He came to Munich penny-less. After receiving an advanced payment of 20 marks from an art dealer he settled down and became a student of prominent masters Otto Seitz and Franz Defregger.

Gyurkovits got married on 4. November 1907 to divorced painter Mary Katherine Leonhardine Kissel. He established an atelier on Turkenstrasse in Munich and managed to make a living from the commissions and orders he received. In Paris, he started by copying paintings of masters and had to be successful, because he exhibited them in [|Glaspalast]. While being creative his financial revenue came from reconstructing altarpieces and frescoes together with his colleague Gallus Roth. In the year 1909, a great tragedy struck his life. His first wife died of an incurable disease. This loss struck him deeply. A friend of his, an attorney dr. Steinhober, who commissioned three altarpieces, invited him to Lučenec describing it as a sweet and calm town. At first, he only visited Lučenec but the citizens started to flood him with orders. A priest from a nearby village Divín asked Gyurkovits to restore the frescoes of the local church. During this time he also took part in collective exhibitions. However these times were often financially uneasy.

1913 was a groundbreaking year in the life of Ferenc Gyurkovits because he fell in love with local girl Irma Hermann, with whom he got married. He settled and built an atelier. His first independent exhibition in Lučenec took place in the house of Adam Busbak. Approximately 60 paintings were exhibited here and the majority were sold. The money collected from entry tickets went toward a good cause - it was given to the local poorhouse. In the heart of town, on the Catholic rectory, he and his friend Zoltán Erhard opened the "Studio of church painting of academic painters Gyurkovits and Erhard."Their services were sought after and several churches in the surroundings of the town are embellished by their works to this day. At the end of 1913 Gyurkovits opened a painting school but due to war it had to be closed. The school was re-opened in 1920. From what we know Gyurkovits also took part in public life and became a member of the Town Council in the year 1914. Later that year he had to enlist in the army but due to trouble with eyesight, he did not join others at the bettlefield. He became a military correspondent and worked in the military hospital. In 1917 he was released from military service and returned to Lučenec. A proximately at this time he and his family moved from their former flat to a smaller house. Gyurkovits took part in collective exhibitions taking place in Budapest. In 1920 he became a member and later the chairman of Unity of visual artists of Slovakia.Within that he met and befriended academic painters Edmund Gwerk, Gyula Flache and others. In the upcoming years, he continued his work in Lučenec, where he was a respected personality. Nevertheless, these times were uneasy for artists all over Slovakia due to economic decline. After the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic Gyurkovits received citizenship. In this era of his life, Gyurkovits becomes a serious and mature painter. After the Second World War, he no longer led the painter's school but focused his attention on family and painting. In 1951 he became a member of the Visual Artists Association of Slovakia, from where he received regular financial income. Gyurkovits was grieving after the death of his wife in 1961. Their daughter and granddaughter became his inspiration. If it was not for a glaucoma he would stay faithful to his craft until the very end. On 20. January 1968 Gyurkovits died at the blissful age of 92.

Life's work
In 1955 a renowned Slovak art historian Marian Váross identified Gyurkovits's style as central-European impressionism, which became popular in the first half of the 20th century among avant-garde styles. The number of artworks created by Gyurkovits is unknown. The vast majority of his works are oil paintings. His aquarelles are usually studies for oil paintings. During his career, he created many charcoal, pencil, pastel and ink drawings that also served as studies for artworks. The classical education he received in Munich impacted his life's work. While symbolism and secession developing in Munich are barely notable in his work, it is suggested that he first encountered impressionism in Paris and therefore he chose this path later on. It is difficult to identify his personal style development since he was bound by orders and commissions but he managed to develop his essence.