Kárpáti, Tamás

Biography

Tamás Kárpáti studied since 1974 at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Jenő Barcsay and Simon Sarkantyú were his teachers.

József Ladányi wrote about the artist: „Since 1974 his paintings with their special atmosphere and old techniques, warm colours (yellow-green, red-brown, golden-brown) can be seen on exhibitions. His works represent the timelessness, general human, morality and always figurative, kind of grotesque figures, angels, mythological and biblical beings. On the paintings at the beginning of his career, with their Rokoko-atmosphere, the figures can hardly be distinguished from their surroundings.

In the 1980s, the colours get darker. On his static paintings the scenes appear out of the dark background. The figures without contours dissolve in the surrounding landscapes, in the inner light. The figure reminding of Jesus appears in the 1980s. In the mid 80s, Kárpáti mainly represents figures of the middle ages and the Renaissance. He paints mythological and biblical scenes. At the end of the decade his ways to compose and his topics change. In the 1990s there is hardly any space around the figures visible, dramatic scenes can be seen instead of the static compositions. Beside the dark, red-brownish colours, he creates paintings in grey and black, with shadows and religious symbols, similar to still lives, with sculls, fish and birds.