Rippl-Rónai, József (1861 - 1927)

Painter, an outstanding figure in modem Hungarian art. After 1884 he studied in Munich, then moved to France. After 1887 he lived in Paris; then in 1892 he moved to Neuilly, where he lived for 10 years. He became widely known on the international art scene as a member of the Nabis group. A productive and versatile artist, he designed a number of tapestries, ceramic objects and glass items in the first years of the 20th century. According to his memoirs, he began to design objects in 1890. His first works included embroideries (’’tapisseries”, to use his own word), then lithographs, majolica decorations, and finally an entire interior: the dining room of the Andrássy Palace in Budapest. After his return to Hungary, in spite of his purposes, of his numerous design ideas, a very few were actually realized (e. g., the stained glass windows of the Ernst Museum and of the Japan Coffee-house in Budapest.) Most of his major works in the applied arts were later destroyed.