Attractive oil on canvas painting representing a couple on a hillside looking out over an idyllic river landscape below. Signed and dated in the lower right corner: Santhó Senior, 1921, in all likelihood to differentiate himself from his son Imre, also a painter.
Miklós Santhó, Hungarian painter, draughtsman and watercolourist, was born in Mocsonok, 4 June 1868. Son of a landowner, he completed his secondary education in Nitra. After graduating in law, he worked for an insurance company. Then he started to paint, while doing various jobs in Újpest (district of Budapest) to earn a living. In 1898 he was a designer at Miksa Falk's glass-painting institute. After recovering from a serious illness, he moved to Vienna, then soon after spent 12 years in Munich, followed by Berlin where he lived 8 years. He then returned to Hungary, where he became a resident of Vác on 1 April 1919.
Santhó produced mainly Baroque-inspired artwork, but also painted portraits and landscapes of Vác and surrounding areas. His drawings were of details of streets and public buildings, drawn in a bravura style, bold, confident and energetic. He was very successful, especially with his pen and watercolour drawings. As Zsigmond Vajda's assistant, he took part in the execution of the frescoes of the new Parliament in Budapest.
Leading a bohemian lifestyle, he died in miserable conditions in Vác on 18 April 1944, as a result of a stroke. He had two sons: Imre (1900-1946), a photographer and painter, and Kamill (b. 1940), a musician.
Sources: Ignác Tragor: Monuments and Artists of Vác. Vác, 1930. Obituary published in Váci Hírlap. (29 April 1944 and 1 May 1944).
Artist: Miklós Santhó (1868-1944).
Signed and dated in lower right.
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Condition: Good condition.
Dimensions: 54 x 45 cm. / 21 ¼ x 17 ¾ in.
Frame: 65 x 56 cm. / 25 ½ x 22 in. Very good condition.
Origin: Hungary.