Biography
András Csiky was born on February 28, 1894 in Zilah, Szilágy County. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Uzon, Háromszék County, where his father got a job as a circuit doctor. He went to elementary school here. He finished high school at the Hungarian Royal State High School in Erzsébetváros, where he graduated in 1912. In the academic year 1913/14, he was a student at the Royal Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, majoring in drawing.
On October 17, 1915, he was drafted into the Royal Hungarian 24th Infantry Regiment. He was soon taken to the Galician front, where on April 14, 1918, he became a reserve lieutenant, later, as a deputy platoon commander, he was awarded the Károly Cross, then as an ensign he was taken prisoner by the Russians and later by the Soviets. He was detained in Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Petrograd, and Riga. He captured the memories of his captivity in pencil sketches. In order to earn money, he made a model of a Orthodox church in Krasnoyarsk out of matchsticks, which quickly found a buyer. Together with his fellow prisoners, they organized art-loving theater performances, which were attended by spectators from the city. He made the invitations and posters in German for these. His attempts to escape were fruitless. He was released from captivity on October 20, 1921.
When he returned home, early on July 18, 1921, he found his father no longer alive. For him, this also meant that he could no longer continue his college studies in fine arts. In order to make a living, he learned the profession of photographer at Gárdi in Cluj, and with the support of his uncles, opened a photography studio in Torda. He strove to do his work as a photographer at an artistic level. Certificates and newspaper articles awarded between 1929-1941 bear witness to his achievements.
In addition to his studio work, he painted landscapes and still lifes with watercolors and sometimes with oils. The fresh themes of his landscapes were seen on trips around Torda and Transylvania. After the decision in Vienna in 1940, he closed his studio in Torda in September of that year, temporarily moved to Cluj, and worked there as an insurance inspector. This forced change caused uncertainty in his usual lifestyle for a while. He came to Budapest in the spring of 1942, and after settling down he worked for the MFI-HUNNIA film factory and MTI until 1944. He also took on other jobs, but he made a living predominantly from photography. He spent all his free time traveling and painting. Interest in his paintings increased, and he was also recognized in art circles.
The end of the Second World War he was taken prisoner by the British on March 30, 1945, from which he was released in the summer of 1946. However, upon arriving at the western railway station, the Hungarian authorities did not allow him to get off the train. He had so many opportunities that he informed Magda's sister and Lajos' brother, with whom he was able to exchange a few words. Later, according to the medical certificate dated August 28, 1946, he was taken to Debrecen, from where he was once again a Soviet prisoner of war. This time he was taken to Valga, Latvia. Many pencil sketches of this latter captivity have also survived. He returned home to Budapest on August 30, 1947, after being a prisoner of war. In order to secure his livelihood and his pension, he undertook decoration work, but he also earned income from the sale of his paintings.
Interest in his fresh, excellent landscapes and tastefully well-composed still lifes has grown. Apart from some oil, crayon and tempera pictures, he mostly painted his pictures with watercolors. In the latter, he acquired an excellent brush handling technique. He painted extremely quickly and worked tirelessly regardless of his living conditions and weather conditions. In the second half of the 1950s, he appeared with three pictures at the exhibition organized in the Art Gallery, where they were sold.
Between 1956 and 1958, he was a member of the New Fine Arts Association. His pictures were judged and sold here. After the termination of the working community, he was transferred to the Fine Arts Fund, with which his relationship was initially acceptable. Some of his pictures were sold, three of his watercolors were bought, and copies of them were distributed as picture postcards. Later, this relationship was not cloudless. His pictures can be found in many Hungarian families, but many of them went abroad: to Transylvania, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Croatia, Canada, USA, Australia, etc. The number of his pictures is therefore uncertain, but with a good estimate it can be put between 500-1000.
He died in Budapest on November 16, 1971. The grateful owners of the pictures, relatives and acquaintances cherish his memory with love and take care of his grave in the Farkasrét cemetery.
