Sárdi István festőművész (1843–1901)
The Painter István Sárdi (1843–1901)

Summary/Abstract: István Sárdi (1843–1901) was a renowned painter in 19th century Kolozsvár (Cluj). His iconic painting of the renaissance buildings in Kolozsvár (Cluj) is still well known, but his name and artworks are completely forgotten. Th is paper offers a resumé of his life and his artistic career since art history is still defi cient on this subject. His life could be an allegory of the contemporaneousTransylvanian artist’s fate spanning from hope and possibilities, to limiting circumstances. Sárdi was born into a famous Unitarian family from Torockó (Rimetea). He started to paint before the painting academy was founded. He first learned from György Vastagh (1834–1922), a painter who studied in Vienna, then he went to the Kunstschule of Nurenberg with a scholarship offered by Gusztáv Keleti (1834–1902), the founder of the Drawing School (Mintarajz-tanoda és Rajztanárképző). Sárdi met the well-known Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy (1844–1900), who even offered him his own studio. When Sárdi returned home, he taught drawing in the State Training School of Kolozsvár, but his last decade was marked by the disease of tabes dorsalis (syphilitic myelopathy). His works were featured in several art exhibitions, together with those of other painters. Unfortunately many of his paintings have been lost or destroyed, and as a consequence his fame has faded away.

• Details
• Contents