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In Prayer Before the Icon

Imre Revesz

Basic information

ID: Г-V-1174
Author: Imre Revesz
Name: In Prayer Before the Icon
Previous attributions: Drawing
Date of creation: 1930–1940s
Technique: drawing
Material: toned paper charcoal chalk
Dimensions: 49.8 x 33 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: genre art
Provenance: Acquired by the purchasing commission of the Ministry of Culture of the Ukrainian SSR. Transferred by the Kyiv State Museum of Western and Eastern Art to the Lviv Picture Gallery in September 1957

Information about author

Author: Imre Revesz
Author in the original: Révész Imre
Artist's lifetime: 1859–1945
Country: Hungary
Biography: Imre Revesz (Révész Imre; 1859, Sátoraljaújhely, Austria-Hungary – 1945, Sevliush (now Vynohradiv, Hungarian: Nagyszőlős), Transcarpathian Ukraine). His real surname was Csebrai.
A Hungarian painter and graphic artist. He was born into a Reformed family in a Hungarian-Slovak town whose name translates as "New Place under the Tent". Soon afterwards, the whole family moved to what is now Vynohradiv – then known as Nagyszőlős. Imre began his artistic training in Budapest, later continuing it in Szatmár (now Satu Mare, Romania). Between 1875 and 1877, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Leopold Müller, and from 1878 to 1879 at the Institute of Fine Arts in Budapest. Between 1879 and 1882, he completed his studies in Vienna. He was awarded a scholarship to further his skills in Paris (1882–1884), where he studied under Mihály Munkácsy. The paintings and drawings he created during this period were selected as illustrations for the two-volume complete collection of poems by Sándor Petőfi, published in Budapest in 1900. Adopting Munkácsy's artistic style, Revesz created genre scenes from folk life, landscapes and historical works in a realistic style. His work "Petőfi Among the People" was acquired by the London Museum of Art.
In 1903, Revesz began teaching at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest. In 1921, he established an artists' residence in Kecskemét. Among his students were the future founders of the Transcarpathian School of Painting – József Boksay and Béla Erdélyi. After retiring in 1932, he lived in Sevliush (then Czechoslovakia, and from 1939 – Hungary). He frequently went on plein air trips. Each of his sketches and compositions bears witness to his exceptional mastery of drawing and his confident graphic line. The artist enjoyed working in mixed media, combining charcoal, chalk, watercolour and pastel. Imre Revesz died in September (according to other sources, in February) 1945 in Sevliush. He was buried in the Reformed cemetery.
The artist's works are held in Hungary's largest state collections, notably the Hungarian National Gallery, the Petőfi Museum of Literature, and several provincial museums in Kecskemét, Szeged and Debrecen. In Ukraine, the artist's works are represented in museums in Lviv, Kyiv and Uzhhorod. For his work "We Demand Bread!" ("Panem!"), the artist was awarded a gold medal at the international exhibition in Munich in 1901.

Object description

The work depicts a young girl and a young man with their backs to the viewer, shown in a three-quarter view, turned left. The girl is kneeling, whilst the young man stands with his back bowed. She has a long plait and a shawl draped over her shoulders, whilst he wears a modest keptaryk (traditional sleeveless jacket). Both have bowed their heads before a sacred image, which the artist does not depict. The object can be inferred from the characters' poses and the white chalk strokes in front of them. The artist frequently employs this technique of omission in his works.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

In Prayer Before the Icon

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