Ferenc Joachim
Encyclopedia
Ferenc Joachim was a Hungarian
(Magyar) painter of portraits and landscapes in oil, watercolors and pastels on canvas, board and paper. He studied and painted in Budapest and Western Europe. Hungarian usage puts the surname before the given name, in the form Joachim Ferenc. As an untitled member of the minor nobility, Joachim was entitled to bear the honorary prefix Csejtei
, so prior to the Communist abolition of honorifics in 1947 his name might be found in the form "Csejtei Joachim Ferenc" (or "Cs. Joachim F.") in Hungarian, or in German "Franz Joachim von Csejthey".
Ferenc Joachim was born in Szeged
, in what was at that time the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For the first 36 years of his life he lived and worked in Hungary and in various parts of Western Europe.
Little is known about the first 30 years of Joachim's life. It appears that Joachim was married twice. He married Margit Gráf (1892–1965) around 1912. They had three children: one daughter, Piroska (1913–2007), and two sons, Ferenc Gabriel (1920–1989) and Attila (1923–1947).
Joachim studied painting in Budapest
(Hungary
), Vienna
(Austria
), Munich
(Germany
), and Paris
(France
). He studied with Hungarian art educator Simon Hollósy
at his private school in Munich, and periodically visited Hollósy's Nagybánya Artists Colony in Transylvania
.
,_hungarian_(magyar)_artist_painter,_circa_1929,_szeged,_hungary..jpg)
While his principal residences and studios were in his birthplace of Szeged
and in Budapest
, Joachim also painted in Rome
, Venice
, Marseilles, and the south of France. During his time in France he went by the name François Joachim. His works were exhibited in Paris, Rome, Venice, Berlin
and Munich.
Joachim was a proponent of the late 19th-century concept of leaving the studio and painting in nature. One of his most productive periods was during one of his stays in Marseilles and along the Mediterranean coast, where he painted over a hundred canvases.
In Szeged he was active in promoting the arts in the region. Articles from Művészet in both 1910 and 1913 show him with other local artists. A publication from Hódmezővásárhely dated 15 April 1910 reports the annual spring exhibition of artists in Szeged, with Joachim Ferenc cited as the most modern of them, with a first-class sensibility for colors. Another article documents that in April 1919 Joachim was a member of the committee of the Szeged Museum trying to save and catalogue the museum's collections following the ravages and chaos of World War I
(during which Joachim had served in the Kaiserlich und königlich forces of the Austro-Hungarian Army
). Another document, dated January 15, 1928, shows Ferenc Joachim to be a founding member of the "Alföld Artists Association" ("Alföldi Müvészek Egyesülete") in Szeged.
Joachim's paintings were exhibited at the Salon de Paris
, the Nemzeti Szalon (National Salon) in Budapest, and the Szépműveszeti Múzeum or Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)
.
Today a small collection of his paintings (partly owned and partly on loan) is preserved in the repository of the "Móra Ferenc Múzeum" in Szeged. One painting, "Kőbánya Albániában" (Stone Quarry in Albania), is owned by the Hungarian National Gallery
. All other paintings are in private hands, occasionally appearing at public art auctions in Hungary and the US.
the family was reduced to poverty; in an interview in 1935 Joachim attributed his daughter's attempted suicide to their financial straits.
During the Second World War a number of Joachim's relatives and in-laws were persecuted or murdered. Both of his sisters-in-law (one of whom, Julia Gráf, had sat for a portrait with him in 1938), their husbands and children died in the Budapest Holocaust, while the fate of his three brothers-in-law is unknown. Joachim's younger son, Attila, enrolled as a student at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1941, and graduated in 1946. His early death, the year after his graduation, was attributed to complications arising from internal injuries received from beatings by Hungarian Fascists and German Nazis, during the Budapest holocaust.
Hungary. His two surviving children, Piroska and Ferenc Gabriel, fled the country after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and found refuge in Canada
, both later moving to the United States
. Ferenc Gabriel, under the name Frank G. Joachim, became a research biologist and entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Metabolism and Radiation Laboratory.
In their old age, Joachim and his wife were moved to separate old age homes: Joachim went to Gyula, where he died and was buried on September 16, 1964, at age 82; Margit went to Szentgotthárd
, where she died and was buried at age 73 in 1965.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(Magyar) painter of portraits and landscapes in oil, watercolors and pastels on canvas, board and paper. He studied and painted in Budapest and Western Europe. Hungarian usage puts the surname before the given name, in the form Joachim Ferenc. As an untitled member of the minor nobility, Joachim was entitled to bear the honorary prefix Csejtei
Cachtice Castle
The Čachtice Castle is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason...
, so prior to the Communist abolition of honorifics in 1947 his name might be found in the form "Csejtei Joachim Ferenc" (or "Cs. Joachim F.") in Hungarian, or in German "Franz Joachim von Csejthey".
Early life
Joachim's parents were Ferenc Joachim and Emilia Metz of Szeged, Hungary. He had two brothers, Jozsef and Károly, and four sisters, Gizella, Mariska, Jolán, and Mici. The family was Roman Catholic. Some of his siblings were also artists in their own right: Jozsef was a sculptor and painter while Gizella became a stage actress.Ferenc Joachim was born in Szeged
Szeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
, in what was at that time the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For the first 36 years of his life he lived and worked in Hungary and in various parts of Western Europe.
Little is known about the first 30 years of Joachim's life. It appears that Joachim was married twice. He married Margit Gráf (1892–1965) around 1912. They had three children: one daughter, Piroska (1913–2007), and two sons, Ferenc Gabriel (1920–1989) and Attila (1923–1947).
Joachim studied painting in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
(Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
), Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
), Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
). He studied with Hungarian art educator Simon Hollósy
Simon Hollósy
Simon Hollósy ; was a Hungarian painter. He was considered one of the greatest Hungarian representatives of 19th century Naturalism and Realism. Hollósy was not productive as an artist: he was in search of atmospheres and his productivity was confined to teaching...
at his private school in Munich, and periodically visited Hollósy's Nagybánya Artists Colony in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
.
Painting career
Szeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
and in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Joachim also painted in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Marseilles, and the south of France. During his time in France he went by the name François Joachim. His works were exhibited in Paris, Rome, Venice, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Munich.
Joachim was a proponent of the late 19th-century concept of leaving the studio and painting in nature. One of his most productive periods was during one of his stays in Marseilles and along the Mediterranean coast, where he painted over a hundred canvases.
In Szeged he was active in promoting the arts in the region. Articles from Művészet in both 1910 and 1913 show him with other local artists. A publication from Hódmezővásárhely dated 15 April 1910 reports the annual spring exhibition of artists in Szeged, with Joachim Ferenc cited as the most modern of them, with a first-class sensibility for colors. Another article documents that in April 1919 Joachim was a member of the committee of the Szeged Museum trying to save and catalogue the museum's collections following the ravages and chaos of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(during which Joachim had served in the Kaiserlich und königlich forces of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
). Another document, dated January 15, 1928, shows Ferenc Joachim to be a founding member of the "Alföld Artists Association" ("Alföldi Müvészek Egyesülete") in Szeged.
Joachim's paintings were exhibited at the Salon de Paris
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
, the Nemzeti Szalon (National Salon) in Budapest, and the Szépműveszeti Múzeum or Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)
The Museum of Fine Arts is a museum in Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Palace of Art.It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an eclectic-neoclassical style, between 1900 and 1906. The museum's collection is made up of international art , including all...
.
Today a small collection of his paintings (partly owned and partly on loan) is preserved in the repository of the "Móra Ferenc Múzeum" in Szeged. One painting, "Kőbánya Albániában" (Stone Quarry in Albania), is owned by the Hungarian National Gallery
Hungarian National Gallery
The Hungarian National Gallery , was established in 1957 as the national art museum. It is located in Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. Its collections cover Hungarian art in all genres, including the many twentieth-century Hungarian artists who worked in Paris and other locations in the West...
. All other paintings are in private hands, occasionally appearing at public art auctions in Hungary and the US.
Family difficulties
During the years of the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
the family was reduced to poverty; in an interview in 1935 Joachim attributed his daughter's attempted suicide to their financial straits.
During the Second World War a number of Joachim's relatives and in-laws were persecuted or murdered. Both of his sisters-in-law (one of whom, Julia Gráf, had sat for a portrait with him in 1938), their husbands and children died in the Budapest Holocaust, while the fate of his three brothers-in-law is unknown. Joachim's younger son, Attila, enrolled as a student at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1941, and graduated in 1946. His early death, the year after his graduation, was attributed to complications arising from internal injuries received from beatings by Hungarian Fascists and German Nazis, during the Budapest holocaust.
Later life
The final 20 years of Joachim's life, from 1944 to 1964, were spent in CommunistCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
Hungary. His two surviving children, Piroska and Ferenc Gabriel, fled the country after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and found refuge in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, both later moving to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Ferenc Gabriel, under the name Frank G. Joachim, became a research biologist and entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Metabolism and Radiation Laboratory.
In their old age, Joachim and his wife were moved to separate old age homes: Joachim went to Gyula, where he died and was buried on September 16, 1964, at age 82; Margit went to Szentgotthárd
Szentgotthárd
Szentgotthárd is the westernmost town of Hungary. It is situated on the Rába River near the Austrian border, and is home to much of Hungary's small Slovene ethnic minority....
, where she died and was buried at age 73 in 1965.