The artists of historism
Teréz Zsolnay and Júlia Zsolnay
The achievements of Vilmos Zsolnay were further expanded by his daughters Júlia and Teréz and their husbands Jakab Mattyasovszky and Tádé Sikorszky. His daughter Teréz was a devout admirer of folk art and introduced Hungarian folk motifs in Zsolnay ornaments. At the age of 70 she started writing the history of the Zsolnay factory, and she kept on working for 20 years. The book is as long as 2500 pages. The book is dedicated to „children of her blood”.
Zsolnay’s other daughter Júlia also participated int he quality control of Zsolnay products, int he expansion of the offering, and in customer relationship management. The Hungarian- and Persion-style ornaments designed by Teréz and Júlia were acclaimed wordwide.
Ármin Klein
Painter, sculptor, form and decor-designer who studied at the Artistic Academy of Vienna and worked for the factory between 1878-83. His classicist form-world was taken out of Greeck mithological motifs and he ofen depicted Renaissance Italian figurines and fork scenes on his plates. He signed his works with AK and HK monogram.
Kelemen Kaldeway
Painter, who had Austian origin and worked for the factory between 1881 and 1884. He ofen used scenes from medieval German knightly life and painted romantic forest details and hunting scenes. The motifs of his scenes were inspired by Niebelung songs. He signed his works with KY monogram.
Műveit KY monogrammal szignálta.
Tádé Sikorszki
Tádé Sikorski was married to Júlia Zsolnay, thus he was Vilmos Zsolnay’s son-in-law. As an architect, he designed their own home, the Sikorski-house, which was built in the grounds of the factory. Maybe because of his profession, he liked to design series of variations, such as the Wanda-series.
The artists of Art-Noveau
Sándor Apáti Abt
Sándor Apáti Abt (1870-1916) was employed by the factory for ten years. He attended the Academy of Arts and also studied sculpture. He was a trend-setting designer of the Zsolnay factory, with nearly 500 models and several painted decorations attributed to him; amongothers, the panoramic decor or the gres-series. His art won several prizes for the factory in Pécs.
József Rippl Rónai
József Rippl-Rónai (1861-1927) was a significant Hungarian painter. His carpet -, glass- and earthenware designs were reproduced by well-known applied artists. One high-quality group of objects he designed is the famous Andrássy-dining room, for which the plates were made by the factory in Pécs. The tulip-series are also attributed to him.
Lajos Mack
After graduating from the academy and studying sculpture, Lajos Mack (1876-1963) started working in the factory at a very young age. During his 17 years there he designed approximately 250 figurative decorative objects and motifs. His popular models are produced to this day.
Mihály Kapás-Nagy
After finishing his studies in applied arts, Mihály Kapás Nagy (1863-1943) worked in the factory as a decoration sculptor for decades. His characteristic, figurative works are three-dimensional, creating an illusion of reality.
Henrik Darilek
Henrik Darilek (1879-1963?) a master of decorative painting, served at the Zsolnay factory for eight years; he enriched the collection with decors and jewellery designs. He was a skilled proponent of the Art Nouveau form-language, who renewed historism and established the Art Nouveau style in Hungary at the same time.