Biography
At the age of fourteen, he appeared in an exhibition for the first time, with a still life in the National Salon. He began his studies at the School of Applied Arts in 1907, then he was a student at the Julian Academy in Paris, then he studied with Simon Hollósy in Munich, and then in Nagybánya. His other masters were Margittay Tihamér and János Böhm. He visited Italy several times with Lajos Gulácsy, the memories of which are preserved in his graphics (An important conspiracy is brewing in Verona; The disowned marquis writes his last letter; The clowns of misery; The memory of a woman from Verona). According to one of his interviews, during this time he painted a 5 cm² matchbox-sized picture (Charles V picking up Titian's brush), which was included in the first joint exhibition he organized with Gulácsy in 1909 at the Uránia art trade, after which they presented their works together two more times. His wife was Anna Ludmilla De Satta, whom he married on October 29, 1913 in Budapest, Józsefváros. His children are Dezső and András.
In the next decade, he lived with difficulty, he had to support himself from civilian jobs. The turning point came in 1921, when he was approached by Arthur Keleti to become the illustrator of his book of poems. The finished bibliophile edition brought not only domestic but also foreign recognition to the two creators. In 1922, Fáy won the graphic design prize of the Pál Szinyei Merse Society, and then several foreign and domestic prizes. He also created illustrations for the Divina Commedia and Gypsies from Nagyida. His drawings can be found in the books of Zsigmond Móricz, Jenő J. Tersánszky, Petri Mór and Karl May, as well as in the fairy tale collections of Elek Benedek. The English Studio c. art magazine published a four-page article about the work of painter Dezső Fáy, accompanied by two of his works, in 1926.
In his new works, the formal solutions of contemporary Italian art dominate, which had a significant influence on Hungarian fine art between the two world wars. He lived in Florence from August 1923 (spending another four years, at his own expense, in Italy). His drawings and paintings show the strengthening of realist features and the novecento classicizing Renaissance, but the titles still often refers back to Gulácsy (Remembrance of a Florentine Afternoon, 1923). It is usually built from landscape elements simplified into geometric shapes. The figure formation of many of his biblical-themed works is also aligned with this order of form. These late works show that Fáy partially stayed with the themes of Gulácsy's works around 1909, but no longer followed the master who reached the border between surrealism and futurism. His works, made between the two world wars, immortalize the poor and the unfortunate. His paintings and graphics are characterized by a combination of expressive and decorative elements in addition to a realistic vision.
