Post-War Figurative Art
(1949-1989)
Signature
Signed bottom right: Somos
Miklós Somos attended the Academy of Fine Arts between 1951-1957, where his teacher was Géza Fónyi. He participated in national exhibitions from the mid-fifties. His individual style, which Géza Perneczky called lyrical realism, was related to constructivist painting and developed in the early 1960s. His suggestive paintings are characterised by a strong plasticity in relief, a tight structure, closed simplified forms and a reduced use of colour. In his works, landscapes, nudes and portraits, he goes beyond the specific features of reality. His paintings can be compared to those of Jenő Barcsay, Endre Domanovszky and Béla Kondor. In 1963 he also made ceramic paintings in Hódmezővásárhely. In the early seventies his painting was renewed. Instead of gloomy scenes, he painted cubo-surrealistic spaces and still lifes with a colourful palette, and by the 1980s his works had become even more relaxed.
Alone Under the Moon bears the influence of the art of Szentendre, especially Barcsay and Vajda. From the former, Somos learnt the constructive use of form (half-cut geomertic forms) and construction, as well as the use of colour (deep, dark colours, colours of the earth). While Vajda refers to his symbolism, the figure, the moon, the houses of Szentendre, the "iconic".