Ferenc Joachim
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Ferenc Joachim (1882-1964) was a Hungarian (Magyar) artist painter who concentrated on portrait and landscape painting in the media of oil, water and pastel colors on the surfaces of canvas, board and paper, and his signature on his paintings have occurred in his Hungarian (Magyar) language usage format most frequently as Csejtei Joachim Ferenc or in its abbreviated form as Cs Joachim F where "Csejtei" is an honorific prefix. In his native Hungarian (Magyar) language the surname or family name is listed first (see Footnote 1) and therefore in his native language usage and format his name is Joachim Ferenc. Ferenc Joachim was born on 21 May 1882 in Szeged, Hungary (at that time the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy) and died on 16 September 1964 in Gyula (town), Hungary, [10]. He studied painting in Budapest, Hungary, in Vienna, Austria, in Munich, Germany, and in Paris, France. He had painted in Rome and in Venice, Italy and in Marseilles, France and in the surrounding south of France region. He had earned high critical acclaim for his paintings in Paris, Rome, Venice, Berlin and Munich. His principal residences and studios were in his birthplace of Szeged, Hungary and in the national capital of Budapest, Hungary. [1] , [11] He was a founding member of the Nemzeti Szalon (National Salon) in Budapest, Hungary which was a major permanent art exhibition venue for artists. Ferenc Joachim together with his wife born Margit Gráf had three children named Piroska, Ferenc Gabriel and Attila, and with the exception of Attila, they all survived the human carnage of World War I during 1914 - 1919, the hopeless poverty of The Great Depression from 1929 - 1939, the insidious infection and ultimate invasion of Hungary by the mass murder machinery of the German nazis during 1939 - 1944, the human carnage of World War II, and finally the invasion and occupation of Hungary by the fear and persecution apparatus of the Russian communists during 1944 to the time of his death in 1964.
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[edit] The historical context
For historical perspective and context let us note the part of the world stage on which the artist painter Ferenc Joachim (in Hungarian usage, Joachim Ferenc, or also Csejtei Joachim Ferenc) lived. From the time of his birth in 1882 until 1918, that is for the first 36 years of his life, he was living in the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy. This was a happy and exuberant and flourishing golden age for Hungarian artists and their arts up until the beginning of World War I in 1914, a period generally flourishing for all of Europe and described by the French terminology as La Belle Époque (the Belle Epoch) spanning circa 1871-1914. The end of La Belle Époque is also described by the French terminology Fin de Siècle. He lived through World War I from 1914 to 1918. At the end of World War I, the territory of the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy was dissected into assorted separate countries in 1918 by the Treaty of Trianon which then defined the borders of the present day Hungary. From approximately 1920 to approximately 1944, that is for the next 24 years of his life, he was living in a constitutional monarchy of an independent Kingdom of Hungary with a Regent but not an actual monarch. This was a very conservative politically right wing regime which was extremely unfriendly and stifling to artists and the arts. This period also encompassed the Great Depression of 1929 to 1939 which was a period of extreme pervasive poverty in Hungary as well as the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. As a consequence of the extremes of poverty, from approximately 1936 to 1944 Hungary was usurped and coerced by the sympathizers and collaborators of the German nazis, a period also extremely unfriendly and stifling to artists and the arts. He lived through World War II from ~1939 to 1944. Finally from 1944 to the time of his death in 1964, that is the final 20 years of his life, he was living under the Russian communist invasion and occupation of Hungary. This was a very conservative politically left wing regime which again also was extremely unfriendly and stifling to artists and the arts. The Russian communist occupation was interrupted only briefly by the Hungarian people's emotionally spontaneous, technically unorganized, politically unmanaged, financially unfunded, intellectually undirected, general popular uprising against the Russian communists, the ill-fated 1956 Hungarian Revolution of 23 October 1956. For the overview of the general artistic history of Hungary encompassing this 1882-1964 period see for example the Hungary sections in the publications "The Dictionary of Art" (editor Jane Turner, in 34 volumes, 1996), Grove Dictionaries, New York, 1996, or also in "Encyclopedia of World Art," McGraw Hill, London, 1963 .
[edit] The individual artist context
Ferenc Joachim's signature on his paintings have occurred in his Hungarian (Magyar) language usage format as Joachim Ferenc, Csejtei Joachim Ferenc, and with the abbreviation Cs for Csejtei as in Cs Joachim Ferenc, and with the abbreviation of F for Ferenc as in Joachim F, Csejtei Joachim F, and Cs Joachim F. The word "Csejtei" (of Csejte) was used in the sense of an honorific prefix, literally called a nobility prefix (nemesi előnév) which was a social convention in use in the Kingdom of Hungary in the first half of the twentieth century. (see Footnote 2) He studied painting in Budapest, Hungary, and in Vienna, Austria, and in Munich, Germany, and in Paris, France. He studied with the famous Hungarian art educator Simon Hollósy, [12], at his private shool in Munich, Germany. He also studied in Paris, France. He also periodically visited the Nagybánya Artists Colony, [13] , [14] , founded by Simon Hollósy in Nagybánya in Transylvania. [15] It appears that during his stays in France his name was frenchified to François Joachim and during his stays in Germany his name was germanized to Franz Joachim von Csejthey. He was an enthusiastic exponent of the late nineteenth century concept inspired in Hungary, in Italy, in Germany, and in France of taking his painting easel out of the studio into nature and painting in nature, that is en plein air or equivalently alfresco . He had painted in Rome and in Venice, Italy and in the area surrounding Marseilles, France. One of his most productive periods was on one of his sojourns to Marseilles, France and the surrounding south-of-France countryside and the Mediterranean seaside where he painted over a hundred canvases. His paintings have been exhibited at the "Salon de Paris" ("Paris Salon") in Paris, France and at the "Nemzeti Szalon" ("National Salon") [16] in Budapest, Hungary, [17] , as well as at the "Szépműveszeti Múzeum" ("Fine Arts Museum") in Budapest, Hungary. He was a founding member of the "Nemzeti Szalon" ("National Salon") in Budapest. A small collection of Ferenc Joachim paintings are still in archival repository in the "Móra Ferenc Múzeum" in Szeged, Hungary. For example, in the year 2000 the "Móra Ferenc Múzeum" displayed on temporary exhibit a loaned private collection which contained a Ferenc Joachim painting titled "Boszorkánysziget," [18] . For another example, on 14 February 2006 the "Móra Ferenc Múzeum" donated a Cs Joachim Ferenc painting to a newly renovated "Fekete Ház" museum in Szeged, [19], [20] , [21] .The present day "Móra Ferenc Múzeum" can be easily visited instantly on the internet at such websites for example as, [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] . All other paintings are in private hands, which occasionally have appeared in public art auctions in Hungary and the USA on the internet as demonstrated by the following websites: [26] , [27] , [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35]. In Hungary his residences and painting studios were in his birthplace of Szeged and in the national capital of Budapest. In his birthplace of Szeged, which is located on the major river Tisza and in the geographical Southern Great Plain or "Alföld" of Hungary, he was repeatedly active in promoting the arts in the region. Articles written in a 1910 publication of "Művészet" [36] , and in a 1913 publication of "Művészet" [37] show him together with other artists of the region actively promoting the arts in Szeged. A publication dated 15 April 1910 from Hódmezővásárhely reports the annual spring exhibiton of artists in Szeged with Joachim Ferenc being the most modern amongst the painters and having a first class sensibility for colors resulting in paintings born from his naked irridescent emotions, [38]. An article written for other unrelated historical review purposes, by coincidence shows documentation of Ferenc Joachim in April 1919 being a member of the committee of the then Szeged museum director Ferenc Móra to both save and catalogue the art collections of the museum following the ravages and chaos of World War I, [39]. Another document dated 15 January 1928 shows Ferenc Joachim to be a founding member of the "Alföld Artists Association" ("Alföldi Müvészek Egyesülete") in Szeged, [40]. In the publication "Szinházi Újsag" of 1925, an article, also copied here, reviewed with highest accolades his solo exhibition of his paintings in Budapest in 1925. During the Great Depression Ferenc Joachim and his family, his wife Margit and his children Piroska, Ferenc G. and Attila, suffered through great poverty and hunger in Budapest which was chronicled by the Budapest daily afternoon newspaper the "Esti Kurir" in an article published on 15 March 1935 on page 9 and also copied here. It is safe to interpret that the newspaper article is extremely sympathetic to the plight of the artist and his family and is trying to raise the alarm for assistance to the family, a technique still used by all newspapers worldwide today. In the year 2005 his then ninety-two year old daughter born Piroska Joachim (later married name Mrs. Piroska Porkoláb or in the Hungarian language usage Porkoláb Tivadar-né) had the following personal memories of her father Ferenc Joachim. [2] He was an accomplished violinist but only played in private for his own personal relaxation and pleasure. He was also an accomplished singer in the opera genre with a rich baritone voice but again only sang privately for his own personal relaxation and pleasure. Naturally he was fluent in his native Hungarian (Magyar) language, and at the very least he was easily conversant in both French and German languages. He wrote children's stories as a personal hobby. He had a keen interest in science, engineering and technology which he satisfied by working on an invention requiring the miniaturized mechanical engineering knowledge of precision watchmakers. His interest in science was most likely fired by the explosively fruitful scientific times he was born in and living in, such as the inventions of the lightbulb, photography, the motion picture camera, powered airplane flight, psychoanalysis for studying the human mind, the effects of bacteria, the telegraph, the telephone, electric power generation, quantum physics, relativistic physics, and the list goes on. He had a voracious intellectual curiosity which he fed incessantly by avid reading of literature, history, science, newspapers. He had many friends and acquaintances amongst his contemporaries and colleagues in the arts including painters, sculptors, writers, and musicians. He had never renounced anyone for any reasons. He had always protected anyone seeking his assistance. The last twenty-five years of his life, from the onset of World War II to his death, he lived under extreme adversity and hardships due to the German nazi and then Russian communist occupations causing deprivations of basic human rights, human dignity, jobs, income, livelihood, artistic supplies and materials, artistic integrity. (Editorial comment: it is difficult to imagine or sense or convey the emotionally suffocating and intellectually numbing oppression of these times in Hungarian history; to simulate the atmosphere for yourself, think of sleep deprivation mixed with fear mixed with hopelessness mixed with anxiety for your family stretched out for over twenty-five years.)
[edit] The family context
Ferenc Joachim's ninety-two year old daughter born Piroska Joachim (later married name Mrs. Piroska Porkoláb or in the Hungarian language usage Porkoláb Tivadar-né) remembers in 2005 the following details about her father's family and her mother's family. The parents of Ferenc Joachim were Ferenc Joachim and Emilia Metz (or Mecz ?) of Szeged, Hungary (at that time the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy) and he had two brothers Jozsef and Károly, and four sisters Gizella, Mariska, Jolán, and Mici. This family including Ferenc Joachim was Roman Catholic, where the Joachim surname originates from Saint Joachim, [41] . Some of his brothers and sisters were also artists in their own right, for example his brother Jozsef Joachim was a sculptor and painter, (see Reference 1), [42], [43], [44], [45], and his sister Gizella Joachim was a theater stage actress. It is believed that Gizella had lived a substantial part of her life as well as died in Paris, France. At this time, very little is known about the personal history of Ferenc Joachim between the time of his birth in 1882 and 1912, that is the first 30 years of his life. It appears that Ferenc Joachim was married twice in his life, the first time before age 30 and the second time after age 30. His second marriage started circa 1912 with Margit Gráf who was born in 1892 in Szőny, Hungary (at that time the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy) and died in 1965 in Szentgotthard, Hungary. Margit Gráf was the daughter of Márton Gráf and Mária Stern and she had three brothers Moritz, Márton and Károly, and two sisters Rozsa and Julia.
Ferenc Joachim with his wife born Margit Gráf had three children: one daughter named Piroska born in 1913 in Paris, France, and two sons, one named Ferenc Gabriel born in 1920 in Budapest, Hungary and the other named Attila born in 1923 in Szeged, Hungary. (see Footnote 3) Their daughter Piroska Joachim was home schooled and privately tutored in literature, history and the arts. Their son Ferenc Gabriel Joachim graduated from the University of Budapest, ("Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem," "Eötvös Loránd University" ) with a "Diploma Biology" which is the equivalent of a Master's degree in the North American university system. [46] Their son Attila Joachim graduated in 1946, [47], from the "Képzőművészeti Főiskola" ( "Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts," [48], [49], a university level professional college) in Budapest, , where upon graduation he was hired by the college itself as a teacher thus beginning a career also as an artist and painter. Tragically the Roman Catholic born Attila Joachim (1923-1947) at age ~ 24 in ~ 1947, died due to accumulated internal bodily injuries caused by repeated beatings by the Hungarian (Magyar) collaborators of the German nazis during the Budapest holocaust. In fact a number of the brothers and sisters of both Ferenc Joachim and his wife Margit Gráf were persecuted or murdered by the Hungarian collaborators of the German nazis during World War II, or, following World War II they were persecuted by the Hungarian collaborators of the Russian communists. One example is Ferenc Joachim's brother Jozsef Joachim being chronically persecuted, [50] . Two other examples are Ferenc Joachim's sister-in-law born Julia Gráf and her husband Zsiga Rozenberg and their two children daughters Naomi and Julia, and also Ferenc Joachim's other sister-in-law born Rozsa Gráf and her husband Ferenc Muller and their two sons, being murdered in cold blood by the Hungarian collaborators of the German nazis, thus becoming holocaust victims in Budapest. Over 500,000 Hungarian murder victims, mostly but not exclusively of Jewish descent or heritage, are attributed to the German nazi holocaust in Hungary, [51], (see also Raoul Wallenberg). The mental anguish and agony of the artist painter Ferenc Joachim must have been of excruciating intensity as he experienced his extended family being murdered. The years of accumulated emotional pain shows in his face in his self portrait from 1958 exhibited at the beginning of this article. His daughter Piroska had married Tivadar Porkoláb of the Porkoláb family of Tapolca, north of Lake Balaton, and Szabadbatyán , east of Lake Balaton and Nagyláng (now Soponya), also east of Lake Balaton in Hungary. It is believed that this line of Porkoláb's in turn had originated from Szárhegy in Erdély (Transylvania). Piroska and Tivadar Porkolab had three children named Tibor, Miklós [52], and György. His surviving son Ferenc Gabriel Joachim had married Éva Grosz who was born in 1925 in Szeged, Hungary and they had six children named Éva, Erika, Tamás, János, Gábor and Michael. Seven of these nine grandchildren during their childhood had closely known and romped and frolicked and played with their grandparents the artist painter Ferenc and his wife Margit in Budapest, Hungary. The daughter Piroska and her family and the son Ferenc Gabriel and his family were refugees following the Hungarian people's popular uprising, the ill-fated 1956 Hungarian Revolution of 23 October 1956 in which Hungarian patriots and freedom fighters attempted to bring world attention and intervention to the foreign military invasion and dictatorial occupation by the Russian communists. The families were given asylum by and in Canada. The families subsequently finally settled in the USA. In the USA Ferenc G. Joachim often used his anglicized name Frank G. Joachim. For approximately the last thirty years of his life Ferenc G. Joachim (1920-1989) was a research biologist and entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Metabolism and Radiation Laboratory, [53], located on the campus of the North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. [3] , [4] Ferenc G. Joachim died at age ~ 69 in 1989 in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. The wife of Ferenc (Frank) G. Joachim, born Éva Grosz died at age 67 in 1992 in Fargo, Norh Dakota, USA. It is believed that both had their bodies cremated and their ashes cast into the Red River near Fargo, North Dakota. The son Ferenc (Frank) G. and his wife Éva's six children, the grandchildren of the artist Ferenc and his wife Margit, survive them in the USA. Ferenc Joachim's daughter Piroska, who was a wife and mother all her life, still survives at age ninety-three as do all her three children, also the grandchildren of the artist Ferenc and his wife Margit. It is worth stressing that the artist painter Ferenc Joachim was most importantly a "family man" as was his wife Margit a "family woman." It must have been devastating sadness and loneliness for them to be separated from their children and grandchildren for the last eight or nine years of their lives.
[edit] The death context
In their old age infirmity, the artist painter Ferenc Joachim and his wife born Margit Gráf were moved to separate old age homes in Hungary, that is, Ferenc Joachim was moved to Gyula (town), Hungary, [54] , where he died and was buried at age ~ 82 in 1964, and his wife born Margit Gráf was moved to Szentgotthárd, Hungary, [55] , where she died and was buried at age ~ 73 in 1965. It appears that both gravesites with their human remains have been lost forever due to severe weather and repeated floods. At the time of this writing in 2005, the artist painter Ferenc and his wife Margit are survived by their ninety-two year old daughter Piroska, as well as by their total of nine grandchildren. Ferenc Joachim's paintings survive him in the world.
[edit] Footnotes
Footnote 1: In Hungarian usage the last name, also known as the family name, also known as the surname, in this case Joachim, is written as the first part of the complete name, that is, Joachim Ferenc. See "naming convention" and "name order" entries under the personal name page here in Wikipedia.
Footnote 2: In the Kingdom of Hungary in the first half of the twentieth century there was a system of public recognition designations and salutations with apparently three different phrases serving three different functions: nobility rank (nemesi rang), nobility title (nemesi cim) and nobility prefix (nemesi előnév). The differences yet remain to be explained here: for example, open questions are, which designations were purely automatically inherited signifying that some ancestor in the past had noteworthy accomplishments and which designations were recognition of present day noteworthy accomplishments. Csejte refers to a historically famous castle located towards the northwest edge in the former Austria-Hungary Monarchy and Empire. Csejtei may also have different spellings such as Csejthe or Csejthey. Today the castle is in the town of Čachtice in the country of Slovakia, [56] . Another example of the use of such honorific prefixes can be seen in the wikipedia biography of another Hungarian and written in the Hungarian language, [57]. The use in Hungary of such honorific prefixes was terminated by a law passed 14-January-1947 by the then Russian communist controlled Hungarian government, [58] .
Footnote 3: The artist painter Ferenc Joachim and his wife born Margit Gráf appear to have intentionally selected deeply rooted Hungarian (Magyar) historical names for their three children. The origin of the name Piroska dates from circa 1100 AD from Princess Piroska who became Saint Piroska, who was the daughter of the Hungarian King Ladislaus I who became Saint Laszlo of Hungary, [59] , [60] . The name Ferenc originates from Saint Francis and also the Franciscan order which has a long history in Hungary since circa 1220 and in Szeged since circa 1490, [61] . The name Attila originates from Attila the Hun who conquered circa 450 AD amongst other territories the present day Hungary and for a time headquartered in Szeged, [62] , [63] .
Footnote 4: Prior to World War I, apparently the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy had three standing armies known as (1) the Landwehr, (2) the Magyar Királyi Honvéd (Hungarian Royal Homeland Defense), and (3) the kaiserlich und königlich," or the "k.u.k." army, all three of which together were referred to as the Joint Army or the Austro-Hungarian Army. The Landwehr army was a purely Austrian army with its officer corps trained at the Austrian military academy. The Magyar Királyi Honvéd (Hungarian Royal Homeland Defense) was a purely Hungarian (Magyar) army with its officer corps trained at the Magyar Királyi Honvéd (Hungarian Royal Homeland Defense) Ludovika Academy in Budapest. The kaiserlich und königlich," or the "k.u.k." army was an army composed of individuals from all the nationalities and ethnic and linguistic groups that were at home at that time in the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy. The rivalries and tensions amongst the three armies are the subject of numerous history reviews.
[edit] References
- ^ "Művészeti Lexikon – Épitészet, Szobrászat, Festészet, Iparművészet." Szerkesztette: Éber László, Társszerkesztő: Gombosi György, 2 kötet, Kiadó: Gyözö Andor, Budapest, 1935; 21.217.-Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, F.; Thiering Richárd. (References to JOACHIM Ferenc, and to his brother JOACHIM József, are in Volume I on page 513.) ( English translation: "Arts Lexicon - Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Industrial Arts," Editor: Éber László, Associate Editor: Gombosi György, in 2 volumes, Publisher: Gyözö Andor, Budapest, 1935; 21.217.-Royal Hungarian University Press, F.; Thiering Richárd. (References to JOACHIM Ferenc, and to his brother JOACHIM József, are in Volume I on page 513.) )
- ^ Piroska Joachim (1913 - ), the ninety-two year old daughter of the artist painter Ferenc Joachim (1882 - 1964) and his wife born Margit Gráf (1892 - 1965), reminiscing in conversations during July, August, September, October and November of 2005. Piroska Joachim's later married name is Mrs. Piroska Porkoláb or in the Hungarian language usage Porkoláb Tivadar-né.
- ^ R. A. Bell and F. G. Joachim, (Metabolism and Radiation Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Fargo, North Dakota, [1]), "Techniques for rearing laboratory colonies of tobacco hornworms and pink bollworms, " Annals Entomological Society of America, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 365-372, 1976. (F. G. Joachim is the abbreviated form of Frank G. Joachim which is the anglicized version of the Hungarian name Ferenc G. Joachim, who was one of the three children of the Hungarian (Magyar) artist painter Ferenc JOACHIM (1882-1864) and his wife born Margit GRÁF (1892-1965).)
- ^ R. A. Bell, C. G. Rasul and F. G. Joachim, (Metabolism and Radiation Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Fargo, North Dakota, [2]), "Photoperiodic induction of the pupal diapause in the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta," Journal of Insect Physiology, vol. 21, pp. 1471-1480, August 1975. (F. G. Joachim is the abbreviated form of Frank G. Joachim which is the anglicized version of the Hungarian name Ferenc G. Joachim, who was one of the three children of the Hungarian (Magyar) artist painter Ferenc JOACHIM (1882-1864) and his wife born Margit GRÁF (1892-1965).)
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