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Szőnyi, István

Biography

Biography

István Szőnyi was born under the name István Schmidt in 1894 in Újpest. His father, a few years later, changed the family name to Szőnyi. He began his studies next to Károly Ferenczy, and then, after the war, he was following with István Réti. In 1921 September he had great success with his first collective exhibition which was organized in the Ernst Museum. He became the member of the Szinyei Society and he was awarded by the Grant Prize. In January he arranged his second exhibition in the Ernst Museum, which was a great success again.
The modern Hungarian painter is one of the most prominent masters and had a significant role in the upswing of the Hungarian graphic tradition. Is one of his main eras (1920 – 1936) he produced nearly 200 graphics and he exhibited in several graphical exhibitions. In 1922 he painted firstly in Zebegény, a small village near Budapest. In the same year he went to Germany and Italy to study and he had taken part on the Biennial of Venezia. At the end of the year he appeared in the “Műcsarnok” nude exhibition, where he won the Youth Prize, and later, the painting got to the Museum of Fine Art. In 1935 the Fränkel Salon ordered an exhibition for him.
From this year Szőnyi was beginning to teach at the “Free School of Downtown”. In 1928 he received the Hungarian Rome State scholarship, although his colleges were spending two years in abroad, he returned home after four months. In the thirties he became the member of the Gresham circle and in 1937 he started to teach at the Academy of Fine Arts. In the same year he was commissioned to create the town of Palatine Church frescoes in Győr city.
 

Year Biography
1894 born in Újpest
from 1911 Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts
1913-1914  art teacher training
1920 short study journey in Vienna
1922 Member of the Szinyei Merse Pál Társaság
1922 Kecskeméti artist camp
1922 His 1921 self-portrait gets into the Museum of Fine Arts
1922 Study journey to Germany
1924 moves to Zebegény
1924 Study journey to Italy
1930s Member of the Gresham-circle
1937 Teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts
1941 Relief work in the church of Győr
1967  
  Teachers: Ferenczy Károly, Réti István.
   
  Awards
   
1956 Outstanding artist
1952 Merited artist
1949 Kossuth-award
1929 Scholarship Rome
   
  Exhibitions
   
1919-1920 Műcsarnok Winter exhibition
1963 Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
1954 Ernst Múzeum, Budapest
1935 Fränkel Szalon
1929 Tamás Galériá
1924 Ernst Múzeum
1924 Venice Biennale
1924 Műcsarnok, Nude exhibition
1922 Szinyei Társaság Nemzeti Szalon
1922 Auróra Műkereskedelmi Rt. Hungarian Etchers
1921 Ernst Múzeum
   
   
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