- Condition: MNH (**)
- Year: 2010
- Catalogue: Scott / Michel
- Number(s): 4169 / 5479
- Catalog value: 3,25 $ / 3,6 €
- Internal ID: 011_15
- Size: 45 x 35,5 mm
- Categories: FAMOUS HUNGARIANS BICENTENARY OF MIKLÓS BARABÁS'S
BIRTH
- DE: Ungarn.
- To see all "MIKLÓS BARABÁS" items in my store? Please click
here.
- To see all "Hungary" items in my store? Please click here.
- To see all "2010" items in my store? Please click here.
- To see all items in my store? Please click here.
FAMOUS HUNGARIANS BICENTENARY OF MIKLÓS
BARABÁS'S BIRTH
Date of issue: 18 June 2010
Miklós Barabás (Márkusfalva/Márkosfalva [later Kézdimárkosfalva,
today Mărcuşa, Romania] 10 February 1810 –
Budapest, 12 February 1898) was a painter, the most outstanding
master of the Hungarian Biedermeier, and a corresponding member of
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was born into a poor family,
one of many children. His father was János Barabás and his mother
was Therézia Gaál. He studied at the Nagyenyed College and took up
portraiture at a young age. He endured great hardships while he was
a student, but he forgot all his misery when he could draw. In this
way he had some successes and also made a modest living. His love
of art grew stronger and stronger, and in 1828 he went to Kolozsvár
(now Cluj, Romania), where he learnt the basics of oil painting
from an Italian master Gentiluomo. The thirst for knowledge took
him to Vienna, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts. He lived
in extreme poverty but his strong will and unfailing devotion to
painting helped him through these hard times. In 1830 he returned
to Kolozsvár, where he began portrait painting, and then moved to
Bucharest, where he achieved success as a fashionable portrait
painter, earning considerable sums with his works. This enabled him
to make his old wish to further his studies in Italy come true. In
1834 he was a frequent visitor to the Venetian galleries. All day
long he made quick watercolour sketches capturing the principles of
composition, colours and forms of the great masters. Later he went
to Bologna, Florence and Rome as well as sun-drenched Naples,
returning to Hungary in 1835 full of new experiences. He reaped his
first success in Pest in 1835 when he showed his copy of
Veronese’s The Rape of Europa, which he painted in Venice.
From then on he became one of the most sought after Hungarian
portrait painters. Every year he painted the portraits of many
eminent figures such as Miklós Wesselényi, Mihály Vörösmarty,
Sándor Petőfi, István Széchenyi and János Arany. In 1840 he
settled in Pest and in 1841 married Zsuzsanna Bois de Chesne. From
this onwards his financial worries were a thing of the past and he
could devote his life entirely to painting. He withdrew into his
studio and became totally immersed in his creative work for a long
time. He painted countless true Biedermeier genre paintings and
landscapes with refined moods. His visual memory was astounding. He
was the initiator of the Society of Fine Arts and from 1862 until
his death he was its president. In 1867 he became a Member of
Parliament, representing Pest. This talented, erudite and sought
after portrait painter captured the likenesses of many of the
country’s great personalities of the 19th century. Some of
his genre paintings reflected the spirit of the age, which further
enhanced his popularity. In 1877 the fiftieth anniversary of his
artistic career was exuberantly feted, and even after that he
painted with youthful zeal for a long time. In 1896 he won a gold
medal at the Millennium exhibition. He died on 12 February 1898.
(Source: hu.wikipedia.org)
The special stamp features Miklós Barabás’s Self-Portrait
(1841) while on the first day cover there is a detail of his
painting Venice at Dusk (1834). Both works are prized pieces in the
collection of the Hungarian National Gallery. The design of the
special postmark is a composition of the indispensable tools of an
artist, a palette and brushes, surrounded by a laurel wreath.
TECHNICAL CARACTERISTICS
Order code: 2010170010011 (stamp) 2010170060012 (FDC)
Number of copies: 300,000, 50 stamps/sheet
Printing method: offset
Printed by Állami Nyomda
Date of issue: 18 June 2010
Photography by Zsuzsa Berényi
Perforated size: 45 x 35,5 mm
Designed by László Dudás
|
