Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1960-01-01 / 1. szám

2

FRATERNITY

LÁSZLÓ L. ESZENYI:

LOUIS JÁMBOR

1884—1959

Louis Jámbor was born in Nagyvárad, Hungary, on August 1, 1884. His father was director of agriculture for the Hungarian government.

Louis Jámbor gave early evidence of his artistic talent while studying in the local schools, and for his first works was rewarded with a five- year scholarship to attend the Royal Art Academy at Budapest.

As a graduate student of the Academy, he spent several years in Germany and Italy where religious art captured his interest.

He was twice recipient of the Baron Kohner Prize; in 1922 he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of the Society of Art, and received the Prize of the City of Budapest. In 1923 he came to the United States and became a citizene in 1929.

His early works here, mostly in the form of mural paintings, drew the highest commendation of the critics. He was often compared with the Italian masters of the Quatrocento and Cinquecento. His figures were living, his composition has shown amazing unity and his lighting effect was so brilliant that it can be achieved only by the greatest in the art.

He executed a number of murals for private homes and public buildings. He painted the patios of Frank J. Hutton, Mrs. J. P. Donohue and George L. Mesker; the 26 murals of the Hotel New Yorker; the huge paintings above the proscenium in the Atlantic City Auditorium; and murals in the churches of St. Gerard’s (Buffalo, N. Y.), St. Theresa’s (Providence, R. I.), St. Sebastian’s (Middletown, Conn.) and the Sisters of Mercy Chapel at Marion, Pennsylvania.

Portrait painting also engaged his attention, and among the notables of the American social life which he painted were: Dr. Emory Hunt, president of Bucknell University; Father Francis P. Duffy (for whom Duffy Square in New York is named); Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, the well known clergyman; Clarence Barbour, former president of Brown University; Lord Rothmere, the great friend of Hungary; and Mother Cabrini, “Canonzed Saint”.

Another outstanding phase of Mr. Jambor’s artistic activity was his religious painting. Men in high religious office have said that Louis Jambor’s work is inspired by his love of God, and that every one of his fine canvasses is a silent sermon which talks in every language of mankind. His best known paintings — “Jesus of Nazareth”, “The Lord’s Supper”, “Jesus with Thomas”, “The Nativity”, “Mother and Child” and “Golgotha” — have been extensively reproduced and widely distributed by religious organizations, which have found that they capture with remarkable fidelity the old-world ways and the true spirit of the New Testament.

Among his numerous water colors some of the best known were: “Bottles”, “Refugees”, “Workers”, “We Build Up Again” and “Gossips”.