Jenő Barcsay

His father wanted to turn him into a military officer, but he himself preferred to become a musician, taking piano lessons in Marosvásárhely.

The rich Transylvanian gentleman undertook the costs of his education in Budapest, but could only support him for one year, because he lost his fortune in the economic crisis after World War I.

In 1923 they worked in Gyöngyös; where he created his picture called A falu bolondja (The Village Fool) which actually initiated him as a painter: that's when he felt the space depicted on the plane, the third dimension combined with the representation of the soul and inner content.

He was discouraged by the modern kitsch he saw in galleries and coffee houses, and his lack of language skills also made his integration difficult.

Due to the serious illness and death of his younger brother, he traveled home from Paris, then returned, but could no longer find his place, so he spent the second half of the scholarship period (1929-30) in Italian cities - Perugia, Rome, Assisi and Florence.

Although he was not a founding member, from then on he regularly spent his summers in the small town on the Danube, initially in the artist colony, later in his house on Zenta street (his statue can still be seen there, with his characteristic cane).

Here he made friends with Jeno Paizs Goebel, whom he soon lost (he died of a brain tumor during World War II).

In 1945, on the recommendation of Emil Krocsák, Szőnyi invited him to the Academy of Fine Arts, where he became a professor of anatomy and visual appearance.

The highly respected, aging master, who also drew intensively as a teacher in order to improve his knowledge, was confidentially called only Nyenyo by his students and colleagues.