Black Army JZsUK

János Fadrusz, the greatest sculptor of the dualist era, was born on 2 September 1858 in Bratislava, Hungary. Hungarian sculptor, one of the greatest figures of 19th century Hungarian historical sculpture, creator of many nationally renowned masterpieces.
His parents were simple people, his father, id. His parents were simple people, his father, János Fadrusz, a farmer who immigrated from Moravia and married Teréz Ebinger, the daughter of a local vintner. János was born as the first child of the couple.
The son, physically strong but of weak mental ability, was given to his father as a locksmith's apprentice. The locksmith's workshop produced a series of fashionable decorative locksmith's works. Ornamental iron grilles, gates and lampshades were made. His diligence and creative abilities soon caught the attention of Lajos Brandl, a drawing teacher at the industrial school, who immediately recognised his talent and encouraged him to develop his skills.
His work increasingly fascinated those around him, and by the time he passed his assistant's examination he had produced such a masterpiece of ironwork that the masters of the locksmith's guild presented him with a gold medal along with his assistant's diploma. His friends and acquaintances all predicted a successful future for the good locksmith, but he wanted more.
Walking through the streets of his hometown, he often admired the sculptural decorations on the buildings, not least the equestrian statue of Georg Raphael Donner on the main altar of St. Martin's Cathedral, and he was determined to one day create such masterpieces himself. His parents, however, did not have the financial means to provide him with a high standard of education. So Fadrusz used his skills to carve various utilitarian objects from wood, first at home and then, from 1875, in a woodcarving workshop in Zay-Ugróc.
He spent part of his military service in Prague, where he admired the city's famous sculptures and buildings. He dabbled in plaster sculpture, and in 1883 one of his works was exhibited at an exhibition for the Hummel Sculpture Fund in Bratislava. It was here that his work caught the eye of Viktor Tilgner, a sculpture teacher at the Vienna Academy, who immediately recognised the young man's talent.
Fadrusz travelled to Vienna in 1886 and gained the recognition of his master in his first period. He wanted to make large sculptures, but did not find Tigler's studio suitable for this. He soon chose Edmund Heller as his master, whose art he felt much closer to. It was in Vienna that his personality developed, where he also became a passionate patriot in the German environment, captivated by the personality of the great Hungarians of the past, and where this also left its mark on his later art.

It was here that he met his wife, Anna Deréky (1872-1950), who was a faithful companion in life, a skilled critic in art, and not without talent as a sculptor. In 1891, Fadrusz completed his examination work, for which he felt the theme of a crucifix hanging on a cross was appropriate (photo). The crucifix was placed in the main space of the Kunsthalle, opposite the entrance, at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts of 1892-93, and visitors were amazed. The work, which won the exhibition's grand prize, made it famous among both professionals and art lovers in one fell swoop.
It was then that Fadrusz told an inquisitive visitor about his biography: 'My father's a scapegrace, my mother's a sato. They are both poor. My father, my mother, my mother's father, both poor. I was a locksmith in Bratislava, and a locksmith's bachelor. I've been to many places. I've been a lifeguard in Prague, a woodcarver in Zay-Ugró, a sculptor's assistant in Vienna - and I'll be a Hungarian artist someday, if God helps me, and I'll do something that will get me into Budapest."
The work became so popular that copies of it were sent to various parts of the country, to Bratislava, Budapest, Szeged and even Exeter in England. Finally, a bronze replica of it was later placed over the artist's grave in Kerepesi cemetery.
Fadrusz received his first major commission from his hometown. He was commissioned to create a monumental memorial on the site of the Coronation Hill in Bratislava. The artist chose the figure of Maria Theresa (picture), but unfortunately this work was vandalised and destroyed.
The overwhelming success of the statue finally brought Fadrusz fame and, at last, substantial financial support. He moved to Budapest and soon built his modern studio.
In the meantime, the master had landed another major commission. The city of Cluj Napoca had long been planning to erect a monument to Matthias. Fadrusz was awarded first prize in the competition for the work. The sculpture depicts the great king as he looks down from the battlements of a castle on his war mare at his victorious armies. His face radiates strength and majesty. The leaders of the Black Army, Balázs Magyar, Pál Kinizsi, István Báthory and János Szapolyai, stand next to the statue's pedestal. The plaster model of the work was exhibited at the 1900 Paris World Exhibition, where it was awarded the gold medal of the exhibition among hundreds of statues.
According to contemporary reports, Fadrusz modelled the statue of King Matthias in his studio on Naphegy in Buda. Having multiplied the dimensions of the model in the correct proportions, he made the iron sculpture as if he had created the skeleton of the huge horse, with all its ribs. The skeleton thus erected was made of wrought iron. After the precision engineering work, the mouldable, soft clay was applied to the iron structure.
For the main figure of the statue, Fadrusz collected all the portraits and sculptures of Matthias that could be found, and based on them he modelled the figure in armour and on horseback. For the horse he spent three months in special studies at the state stud farm in Mezőhegyes.

The assembled sculpture was erected in the twenty-one metre high studio on an easily rotatable stand. After a sample was cast in bronze in the ore-casting workshop, another plaster model was made and sent to the Paris World Exhibition. The plaster model was awarded the Grand Prix, the highest prize, by the jury of the World Exhibition.
The stylized head of the castle, which houses the main figure, and the oval-shaped, staircase pedestal, which houses the secondary figures, were designed by Lajos Pákey, the city's chief architect. He designed, among other things, the new Unitarian College building, which was inaugurated in 1901. The erection of the statue was delayed by about a year and a half because of the controversy over the material of the pedestal: Fadrusz and Pákey had originally agreed that the part in contact with the ground would be made of Söttői stone, while the bastion would be made of Bácsi-toroki stone, the same material used to build the medieval walls of the city. However, it was thought that the Bácsi-torok stone would not have been able to support the weight of the sculpture, so the work was stopped and an investigation was requested into the quarries' materials.
Although the strength of the planned stone proved to be sufficient, the quarry could not produce the blocks of the size requested by Fadrusz, so the entire pedestal was finally made of stone from the quarry. On 13 August 1902, the statue was loaded for rail transport at the Lipótváros railway station. Four wagons were needed to transport the 17 pieces, weighing 18 815 kilograms.
On 15 August, it arrived in Cluj Napoca, where the wagons were hauled from the station to the main square on horses, on the tracks of the defunct local road railway. By the beginning of September, the pieces were assembled behind the plank fence covering the statue; Fadrusz then continued to work on the details.
The monument to Matthias was unveiled in Cluj Napoca's main square at 10 a.m. on 12 October 1902, when Archduke Joseph awarded him the Order of the Iron Crown, and the city granted him honorary citizenship and a doctorate. The work is the most famous work of Fadrusz's art and the culmination of his career.
The casting work was carried out in several parts during 1900-1901 by the firm of royal court casters Beschorner A. M. and his son A. M. Beschorner in Újpest; the director of the firm, Ferenc Hoffman, was awarded the Order of the Crowned Cross of Merit for the work on the statue. The work was officially accepted by the Cluj Napoca Statue Commission on 3 September 1901.
Almost at the same time as the statue of Mátyás, Fadrusz's third major work, the Wesselényi monument, was unveiled in Zilah. Fadrusz received another major commission, to create a monument to Lajos Tisza in Szeged, but the master was only able to create the main figure.
He also planned a monumental memorial to Queen Elizabeth, but was not successful in winning the commission. He was devastated by his failure, his lung cancer became more and more serious and he fell into bed. As the illness took its toll, he was still plotting. His plans were finally thwarted by his untimely death 28 October 1903. He left no children, but his pupils continued his work and completed his unfinished works.
A bust of János Fadrusz can be seen in the 1st district of Budapest.

(info collected by our teammate Rácz "Fadrusz" Alpár)