Biography
Dezső Czigány, born Dezső Wimmer, was an important Hungarian avant-garde painter. His style, emphasizing the form was influenced by Cézanne and Fauvism. He is mostly known for his still lifes, portraits and nudes with deeply toned colors.
He was born as the son of tinsmith Ignác Wimmer and Hani Pfeiffer. He studied with Simon Hollósy in Budapest, then in Munich and at the artist colony in Nagybánya. In 1905, he attended the Julian Academy in Paris with the French historical painter Jean-Paul Laurens. He exhibited for the first time in 1906 at the Salon des Indépendants. He was not influenced by academic and historical painting, but rather by the art of Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse and Félix Vallotton. In the second half of the decade, he attracted attention with his Fauves portraits. His self-portrait with green hair, which was featured in Nyolcak's first exhibition entitled New Pictures in 1909, provoked strong opposition from contemporary critics. From the turn of the decade, his painting was increasingly influenced by Paul Cézanne.
He also exhibited in Nagybánya and with the Eight in 1911. When the artist colony in Kecskemét was established, he preferred Kecskeméti instead of Nagybánya. He had a good friendship with the poet Endre Ady, whom he painted several times. He also has a series of famous self-portraits, showing himself as a cardinal, worker or monk, etc. After the First World War, he lived in France, and upon returning home organized a collection exhibition of southern French landscapes in 1927 in the Budapest studio of photographer Aladár Székely, on Váci Street. For these works he used a much lighter, colourful palette.
In 1937, he ended his life by his own hand. Before committing suicide, he killed his family.