IVÁNYI GRÜNWALD, Béla
(1867, Somogysom - 1940, Budapest)

Woman by the Water



1897
Oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Like Hollósy, Iványi Grünwald felt embarrassed about Nagybánya landscape at the beginning, and his art there became complete only after a period of one or two years. The picture portraying his wife in the young female figure as she is standing by the Zazar represents a transition between delicate naturalism of degraded colours, wide spread in Europe, and plein air full of sunshine. He skilfully solves problems of light at sunset: reflexes present everywhere unite vision of delicate colours in reddish shade. His fascinating asymmetric composition with the decorative silhouette of a figure lit from the back indicate a mature artist. A principle of the Nagybánya art school already formulated in artists around Hollósy is expressed in a perfect way in this less typical picture: atmospheric and artistic balance of man and landscape is present in the picture. The delicately painted and well constructed sunset offers a starting point for a universal Weltanschauung of impressionism.

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