Pre-War Figurative Art
(1922 - 1950)
János Franyeczky (1850? - 1932)
Signature
Signed above left and signed bottom right: Franyetzky médium ceruzarajza
Provenance
Saphier collection
In Hungary, spiritualism became really popular at the turn of the century and in the first half of the 20th century, when its methods began to be applied in practice. In 1899, the Hungarian spiritualist magazine Égi Világosság reported on a 40-year-old MÁV official in Miskolc who claimed to have created some of his mediumistic drawings under the guidance of a 14th century Polish painter and others under the direction of a Czech draughtsman who also lived in the 1300s. Franyeczky drew special portraits of animals with pencil, pen and ink, from the bottom up, not knowing in advance what the picture would turn into and how it would evolve as he went along. Some of the medium's drawings have been included in József Rippl-Rónai's own collection.