Gyula Benczúr (Hungarian painter, 1844-1920) | Narcissus, 1881 | Hungarian National Gallery
Gyula Benczúr, a contemporary of Mihály Munkácsyand Pál Szinyei Merse, was a consistently outstanding exponent of academicism from his time at the Academy in Munich, and later a much feted artist in Budapest.
He was accomplished in every aspect of painting that could be learned from studying the works of his Renaissance and Baroque forebears.
These skills, encompassing composition and the precise, sensual depiction of details, are demonstrated in his Narcissus of 1881.
Surprisingly, however, Benczúr’s treatment of this Ovidian theme deviates from the traditional iconography.
Gyula Benczúr (Hungarian painter, 1844-1920) | Narcissus, 1881 | Hungarian National Gallery
Gyula Benczúr, a contemporary of Mihály Munkácsyand Pál Szinyei Merse, was a consistently outstanding exponent of academicism from his time at the Academy in Munich, and later a much feted artist in Budapest.
He was accomplished in every aspect of painting that could be learned from studying the works of his Renaissance and Baroque forebears.
These skills, encompassing composition and the precise, sensual depiction of details, are demonstrated in his Narcissus of 1881.
Surprisingly, however, Benczúr’s treatment of this Ovidian theme deviates from the traditional iconography.