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János Major (Budapest, May 8, 1934 – June 12, 2008) was a Hungarian graphic artist, painter and photographer from Budapest. He was born as Janos Neufeld to a Jewish family in Budapest.
János Major | |
---|---|
Born | Budapest, Hungary | May 8, 1934
Died | June 12, 2008 74) Budapest, Hungary | (aged
Resting place | Kozma Street Cemetery 47°28′22.25″N 19°10′46.04″E |
Nationality | Hungarian |
Alma mater | Hungarian University of Fine Arts |
Known for | Tombstone photographs, drawings and etchings |
Spouse(s) | Eva Buchmuller, divorced |
Website | evabuchmuller |
From 1947 to 1950, he attended a private school, and later, a High School for Fine and Applied Arts. In 1950, his mother married Bela Major, which made him and his sister adopt the name Major as their last name. Upon high school graduation, he got accepted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest where he studied graphic reproduction: etching, lithography, and woodcut under Karoly Koffan. His diploma work in 1959 was etchings of women workers at an electronics factory. He married and later divorced, Eva Buchmuller. He is survived by their two daughters, Rebecca and Borbala Major.
In the 1960s, he experimented with mezzotint, line engraving, aquatint, acids on steel plates, and imprints into vernis mou. His epic etching In Memoriam of Moric Scharf, a reference to a famous Hungarian blood libel case, to the Holocaust, and to Renate Muller. In the late 1960s, he began to photograph tombstones, producing hundreds of black and white prints. Some photos informed his drawings while others inspired conceptual work.
He produced art that was grotesque, (self) ironic, absurd sexual engagements blend with Jewish and political motifs.[lower-alpha 1][2] In the 1980s, he became interested in perspective illusion.[3] He has dealt with the subconscious and taboo.[1]
He staged a one-man protest on October 18, 1969, at Victor Vasarely's retrospective exhibition at the Mücsarnok gallery in Budapest. Janos walked around the exhibit with a one-inch sign under his lapel and showed it only to friends: Vasarely Go Home.[4]
In 1976, Major destroyed a significant portion of his work. The same year, he became associated with the Budapest History Museum as an archaeological draftsman and did not resume his own work for a decade.[3]
His late work consists of tombstone photography, drawings, and comics. These drawings make use of a certain perspective representation he called ‘coincidences,’ resulting in absurd misperception (with pornographic overtones).[3]
Source: Veri, Daniel. March 2013. Leading the Dead – The World of Major Janos, MTVA Press. ISBN 978-963-7165-49-8.
Source: Veri, Daniel. March 2013. Leading the Dead – The World of Major Janos, MTVA Press. ISBN 978-963-7165-49-8.
Source: Veri, Daniel. March 2013. Leading the Dead – The World of Major Janos, MTVA Press. ISBN 978-963-7165-49-8.
Source: Veri, Daniel. March 2013. Leading the Dead – The World of Major Janos, MTVA Press. ISBN 978-963-7165-49-8.
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