THE LIFE AND ART OF LAJOS MEZEY, PAINTER AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Lajos Mezey, (Nagyvárad, October 3, 1820 - Nagyvárad, July 29, 1880) was a Hungarian painter and
photographer. He created in the spirit of Baroque, Biedermeier and Romanticism. He worked as a
portrait and altarpiece painter in his hometown.

His father, Egyházas-Bágyoni Mezey Mihály - the eldest - a wealthy Calvinist citizen, came from a
civic family in Debrecen,he had ancestors of „Hajdú”people.

His mother, Klára Török, was born in Poklostelek, Bihar County.

Of his 15 brothers and sisters, 10 died in childhood.

His sisters married members of noble families in Bihar (Csokaji Fényes, Posztupiczi Kosztka and Ippi
and Érkeserűi Fráter families).

His elder brother, Mihály Mezey, was a lawyer and the commander of the fire brigade of Nagyvárad.

His younger brother, Károly, was made a painter, but died young.

Lajos Mezey completed his elementary and high school studies in Oradea. At the age of 17, he made
his first known works: a watercolor miniature portrait of a woman in ivory and an oil-painted self-
portrait.

Around 1837 he met his later fiancé, and then wife, Mária Magdolna Thuolt, the 14 year old daughter

of József Thuolt of Ludrova, the chief notary of Nagyvárad. The girl's mother, Magdolna Draveczky,

was a landowner in Monostorpályi.

He made his first early works with the help of his school art teacher, István Heldwein.

After graduating, he chose a career as a painter, which meant an insecure livelihood and a wandering

life. His parents did not support him in his decision. In 1839, however, he set out to master the basics
of his craft and to earn some money by painting during the wanderings. On his first trip he reached

Pest and Balatonfüred.

He returned to Nagyvárad in 1840. That's when he painted his parents and siblings. In 1841 he made

an altarpiece entitled Mater Dolorosa for the Pálos Church.

In the spring of 1843, the Austrian panoramic painter Nifont de Rarke arrived from Odessa to

Nagyvárad. Mezey joined the wanderer. Pest, Székesfehérvár, then again Pest were the stations of the

road. In Székesfehérvár he met his later painter colleauge: József Mezei, who was a traveling actor

with Petőfi at the time. (After their death, the two painter-photographers, Lajos Mezey from

Nagyvárad and József Mezei from Kolozsvár, are often confused by the literature.)

On August 20, 1843, Nifont de Rarke opened an exhibition of panoramic pictures in Pest, in the house

next to the so-called Vastuskó on Váczi Street, which also included pictures of Mezey. All of this has

been reported by the Honderű, the Világ, and the Regélő. In the spring of 1844, Mezey got rid of the

old master and returned to his hometown again.

In June 1844, the Court of Nagyvárad appointed Mezey and Pál Böhm, - the father of the painter Pál

Böhm,- as experts. Their task was to comment on the iconostasis of the Greek Catholic church in

Pocsaj by the painter András Kis.

In the summer of 1845, with a short stay in Pest, he went to Vienna. Due to financial reasons, he was

not able to enroll among the students of the Painting Academy. As a guest, he listened to lectures and

went to the Belvedere to copy, including paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, and David

Teniers Jr.
In the fall of 1846 he continued to migrate. He traveled to the Academy of Painters in Munich, Paris,

Venice and Rome. In 1847 he finally returned to Nagyvárad.

In April 1848, at the suggestion of Ödön Beöthy, he was given a significant role in the establishment

of the National Guard's Sound Society.

His brother, Captain Mihály Mezey, received Lajos Kossuth at his home as the clerk of the

revolutionary Nagyvárad.

His two Brother in Law: István Thuolt and Ignátz Thuolt were also captains in the war of

independence. After the laying down arms at Világos, they emigrated to Turkey with colonel Bem,

where they were forced to take up the Islamic religion.

Although his fiancée's parents opposed the marriage, on May 18, 1848, Mezey married Mary

Magdalene Thuolt. Mezey built a house in 1852 on a plot of land in the city center at number 3,

Central Street. Six children were born, but their firstborn son, Lajos, died at the age of two.

Mezey worked in his own studio, but toured the area as a portrait painter and restorer. In the summer

of 1852, he and his friends, József Szlávy, the later prime minister, and Lajos Miskolczy, the later

chief of the Hajdú County, made a trip to the Királyhágó, touching Feketetó, Csucsa, and Telegd.

Ferenc József and Queen Elizabeth were waiting for Nagyvárad on their national tour in 1857. The

city asked him to make a gift for the ruling couple. He traveled to Vienna to get supplies.
When he arrived, he learned that his 22 year old brother, Charles, was dying in Venice. He hurried

over, but he could only bury him. He brought home the oil-painted self-portrait that is the only

surviving memory of the tragic young man's study trip to Venice.

Mezey drew the coat of arms of Nagyvárad, and the portrait of St. Ladislaus for the ruling couple and

embroidered them on a tablecloth. For the festive event, he planned the decorative lighting of the city

and the erection of the triumphal arches.

Several of his portraits from the 1850s are known, but his still lifes, life pictures, biblical canvases and

sacred images have survived too. In some of his landscapes, the motifs and influences of Friedrich

Gauermann can be discovered.

His wife died of a lung stroke on October 27, 1858.

In 1860, he married his wife's sister, the widow of a Bach clerk, Emilia Thuolt, who moved into the

Mezey house with her daughter.

His friend Antal Haán stayed in Nagyvárad for a while in the early 1860s and painted a portrait of

Mezey.

In the early 1860s, he made a large-scale painting for the reading room of the Library in Nagyvárad,

entitled The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius, based on his studies in the Belvedere in Vienna, based on a

painting by Wuttky.
In the autumn of 1861, the 16 year old high school student Szinyei Merse Pál moved to Nagyvárad. He

had already drawn in Jernye, but now he had found his first master in Mezey to help him develop his

talent. During his studies, Szinyei copied several Mezey paintings, including some still lifes.

By June 1862, he had sent home his first oil paintings, painted next to Mezey. At the end of the school

year, his father, Szinyei Merse Félix, came for his son to take him home for the holidays. At that time,

the deputy of Sáros county also met with Mezey in person, who made a very good impression on him.

On September 24, he wrote to ask his son to teach in the new school year as well.

In the summer of 1863, after graduation, the young student copied Mezey's painting The Outbreak of

Mount Vesuvius and then traveled home with his master to Jernye in the Highlands, where Mezey

spent two months visiting the castle and painting family members.

Despite the intrigues of the painter János Valentiny, Szinyei's father sent his son to the Munich

Painting Academy in the spring of 1864, at Mezey's encouragement.

Mezey has been involved in photography since the early 1850s. In the collection of the National

Museum there is a daguerreotype made in 1852, which depicts him with his little girl. From this time,

we know of a wet-process paper image dyed with a few inks.

He rebuilt his house in 1864 and opened a joint studio with his friend József Kőrössy, a traveling

photographer.

Mezey traveled to Vienna to photograph József Székely for the necessary tools and professional

advice. He photographed himself standing in front of an easel with a brush and palette in his hand.
At that time, there were several photography studios in Nagyvárad, the most popular of which

belonged to Mezey and János Lojanek. The two of them also organized joint occasional exhibitions.

More than 100 photographs are kept in public and private collections. These are the vast majority of

visit card portraits. Many of his self-portraits have survived. Some of his photographs feature the

studio background he painted. He made humorous stereo recordings of his children.

His double-exposure image, in which his own ghost image grimaces, is one of the first Hungarian

montages.

In memory of his wife, he composed The Allegory of Death. Next to his easel, covered with a black

veil, and a skull, he placed paintings of his deceased spouse and her family members.

On August 12, 1867, the Nagyvárad Choir Association was re-established, of which he was the vice-

president, zealous member and renowned tenor until 1877. During these ten years, he has performed at

countless events and performances. He connected his association activity with his fine art work. He

made a letter of commendation for the Choir, he designed the flag of the association and his oil

paintings on major association holidays, and presented prints to the Choir for a draw.

From 1872 he was a member of the central committee of the National Association of Choirs and took

part in several musical meetings in Pest under the leadership of Ferenc Erkel.

In February 1873, his conflicts arose with the Choir of Nagyvárad, and he formed the Society of

Music Lovers of Oradea, which was also reported in the Music Magazines. In addition to singing, he

occasionally took on acting roles and recitation.

In the fall of 1870, he was awarded the position of drawing teacher at the village elementary school.

The local press reported annually on the exhibition he had arranged from his students ’drawings.

1872. on March 1, he was elected a member of the City Legislative Committee.

In December 1872, he was entrusted with arranging the fine art material for a large-scale museum

exhibition in Nagyvárad.

On September 1, 1872, a daughter named Jolán died (she was only 18 years old).

He divorced his second wife in March 1873.

Mezey traveled to Vienna several times in the 1860s and 1870s to copy images for art collectors and

public institutions in Nagyvárad.

In September 1874 he invited the painter Elek Szamossy, the first master of Mihály Munkácsy.

Szamossy worked in his studio for half a year. This is how Munkácsy visited Mezey's studio.

In December 1874, he leased his photography workshop to the photographer of the capital, Ede

Décsey. Décsey's planned visit for a few months became a final settlement, he even bought the studio.

Mezey’s financial situation became increasingly difficult as teaching his sons wasted all her money,

eventually going bankrupt. He was forced to sell his house and ran out of the proceeds just to pay off

his debts. He moved into a rented apartment at Úri utca 7.

His picturesque assignments, which multiplied in his difficult situation, and the accolades that

followed gave him comfort. The press of Nagyvárad, which became regular from 1867, including

“Bihar”, later “Nagyvárad”, and then “Szabadság”, reported almost every month on his work, praising

and acknowledging his work.

Newspapers reported painting a portrait of Ferenc Deák and Ödön Beöthy for the City Hall, a portrait

of Mihály Mezey, the founding commander of the Fire Brigade Association, to the Bihar National

Casino by order of the Royal Couple; portraits of Károly Thoma Szentpétery, former director of the

grammar school; the altarpiece of St. Ladislaus to the church in Érszalacs, and the altarpieces of St.

Joseph and St. Francis (1876) to the parish church of the Holy Spirit in Oradea. He made portraits of

several wealthy local citizens (László G. Krausz, Sándor Des Escherolles Kruspér, Sándorné Bölöny,

medical professor Lajos Grosz, wife of József Román, and members of the Lederer, Rothmann,

Bárdossy and Baron Radivojevich families).

Nagyvárad had two painters at the same time in the 1870s, Lajos Mezey and Elek Szamossy. The

artists exhibited their pictures in shop windows, bookstores, newspaper publishers, and photography

studios. These small chamber exhibitions had serious repercussions in the local press.

The editorial in Oradea, the homestead of fine arts, stood by the two artists and whipped up the click

spirit of the capital.

It was often the case that both artists were commissioned to work on a similar subject at the same time,

including Deák, Beöthy and Szamossy of the royal party, and he painted an altarpiece for the parish
church of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Nagyvárad. These works were exhibited together. In

terms of judging the works, the urban audience and the press split into two parties.

Mezey was a bloody atelier artist, his studio was constantly open to the public, and he also had

students. On one occasion, he received a significant remuneration from János Nogáll, the Bishop of

Oradea.

Mezey wrote a longer study on the situation of Hungarian fine arts in Nagyvárad. He welcomed the

effervescence that had set off in the capital and encouraged the countryside to make financial

sacrifices to catch up.

In 1878 he designed the Szigligeti plaque in Nagyvárad.

His son, Lajos, bought a pharmacy in Biharnagybajom with his father's help, and he married Irma

Jancsó from Esztelnek and Nagynyújtód.

Mezey's health was shaken, and in 1879 his stomach cancer attacked his body. The aggravation of his

illness can be traced from his letters to Louis' son. He also spent his last days working. He examined

his school drawing students, finished some of his work, arranged his legacy. He died at his home on

July 29, 1880. He was laid to rest in the cemetery on Rulikovszky Street, and his tombstone still stands

today.

At his death, the entire domestic press commemorated him.

His children, in accordance with his will, auctioned off part of his artistic legacy, and from the

proceeds they set up a foundation to provide hard-working, talented, poor children with drawings.

Two years after his death, the drawing artist József Szűcs made his portrait, which was exhibited in the

shop window of the “Nagyvárad” editorial office.

His paintings were shown at the Biedermeier exhibitions in Ungvár in 1881, at the Millennium

exhibition in Budapest in 1896, in Nagyvárad in 1903, and in the capital in 1912 and 1937; at the

exhibitions of the Kolozsvári Museum, the Budapest Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts and the

National Gallery in Budavár, the Art Gallery, in Mór, Szécsény, Szeged and Székesfehérvár.

His works are in domestic and foreign private collections, the Hungarian National Museum, the

Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Budapest History Museum, the Kiscelli

Museum, the Semmelweis Museum of Medical History, the Déri Museum in Debrecen, the National

Museum in Nagyvárad, the Nagyvárad City Museum, they are located in the Church of the Friends of

Nagyvárad, the Pauline Church in Nagyvárad, and the Roman Catholic Church in Érszalacs.

His correspondence is kept by the Hungarian National Gallery and the Hungarian Academy of

Sciences.

From the end of the 19th century to the present day, during the processing of the Biedermeier and

Romantic eras and the art of Pál Szinyei Merse, some praiseworthy lines of work by Béla Lázár,

Károly Lyka, Simon Meller and other authors have appeared almost every year in newspapers,

magazines, biographies and lexicons. .

In September 1940, on the return of Northern Transylvania, the military commander of Oradea

ceremoniously restored Mezey's large canvas: the equestrian image of King St. Ladislaus to the

ceremonial hall of the Town Hall.

Mezey's painting of the painter Dávid Rosenthal, which became the property of the Museum of Fine

Arts in 1948. According to a study published by Béla Bíró in 1955, the picture is Rosenthal's self-

portrait painted in Paris.

In 1996, a monograph was published about him, author: Mezey András, edited by Júlia Szabó, and

with an introductory study by Katalin Sinkó, an ouvre catalog, a list of exhibitions, and a list of

sources and literature.

In 1998, the Petőfi Literary Museum opened an exhibition of Lajos Mezey's painting and photographic

oeuvre, directed by art historian Ida Kovács.