Rippl-Rónai József
(Kaposvár, 1861 – 1927, Kaposvár)
After originally preparing to be a pharmacist, he went on to pursue his studies in painting in Munich and Paris, where he became an assistant to Mihály Munkácsy. He came to meet the painters of the Nabis group when it was formed and showed at their exhibitions a number of times. His friend James Pitcairn Knowles, a Scottish painter, introduced him to Aristide Maillol, with whom he formed a close friendship; he was a visitor to the studios of Gauguin and Cézanne during the nineties. The Hungarian public first saw his work in an open show in 1900, by which time he had already been fully acknowledged as an artist in Paris. He settled for good in the town he was born, Kaposvár, in 1902. He was in France when the war broke out, but was released from internship upon the intercession of Maillol and Maurice Denis. An important resource for an appreciation of his life is his autobiography, along with the memoirs of his adopted daughter, and the estate of his younger brother, Ödön. A museum was named after Rippl-Rónai in Kaposvár (where his brother’s collection can also be seen), while his final home, the Villa Roma keeps his memory through its unchanged form.
Rippl-Rónai József (Kaposvár, 1861 – 1927, Kaposvár)
Lady with a hat
signed right “Rónai 1919”
pastel on paper
size 60 x 50 cm
FOR SALE