János Thorma

János Thorma (24 April 1870 – 5 December 1937) was an an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, his work progressed from naturalism, to historical subjects, to romantic realism to a Post-Impressionism of a style specific to Baia Mare ("Nagybánya" until 1918).

Born in Kiskunhalas to the tax agency cashier Béla Thorma and his wife Gizella Fekete, Thorma moved with his family to Nagybánya at the age of 14. He began to study art at Bertalan Székely's drawing school, continuing to learn under Simon Hollósy at Munich from 1888 to 1890. In 1891 and 1893-95 he worked at the Académie Julian in Paris. His first significant painting, "Szenvedők" ("The Bereaved"), was exhibited at the Budapest Art Gallery, then at the Paris Salon in 1894. In 1896, on the occasion of the millennium of the Magyars' conquest of Pannonia, he presented his painting about The 13 Martyrs of Arad, "Aradi vértanúk" ("The Martyrs of Arad"), which gained him nationwide renown. In 1896 he was one of the founders of the Nagybánya artists' colony, and from 1902-27 he was the professor at the Baia Mare Painters' Association. In 1898 he began to paint "Talpra magyar!" ("On Your Feet, Hungarian!"), on which he worked intermittently almost to his death.

It was due to Thorma that the artists' school and colony could continue to function in Baia Mare after the Union of Transylvania with Romania in 1918. His first paintings were naturalistic, and an early inspiration was Jules Bastien-Lepage, whose most popular work, the "Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt", he used in 1892 as a model in painting Irén Biltz; the result bore the characteristic atmosphere of Art Nouveau. However, he felt that naturalism offered him too little to achieve his goals as a painter, and already as a young man drew inspiration from German romanticism ("The Bereaved", 1892) and French classicism ("The Martyrs of Arad", 1893-94). In 1897, following a long trip to Western Europe, he painted his Biblical subjects (including "Békesség veletek" – "Pax vobis"), which show the influence of Rembrandt.

After 1900, Thorma's work turned toward realism ("Kocsisok között" – "Among the Coachmen", 1902; "Október elsején" – "On the First of October", 1903; "Kártyázók" – "The Card-Players", 1904). In 1906-07 he was under Spanish influence ("Cigányutca" – "The Gypsies' Street", 1907), while for a brief period around 1910 Paul Gauguin inspired him ("Húsvéti kenyérszentelés" – "The Blessing of the Bread", "Templombamenők" – "People Going toward Church", both "ca." 1910). After 1920 he developed his own "en plein air" style, based on his substantial knowledge of painting and employing certain elements of neo-classicism ("Tavasz" – "Spring", "ca." 1920; "Fürdés után" – "After Bathing", 1928). In the last decade of his life, he painted very beautiful impressionistic landscapes and portraits without restrictions.

In September 1929, Thorma, aged 59 and until then a bachelor, married his disciple and distant relative Margit Kiss. He died in Baia Mare eight years later.

External links

*ro icon [http://www.nagybanya-art.ro/main.php?l=ro&m=3&sm=3&id=38 "Thorma János"] , from the Székely Museum of Ciuc