1921 - 2001 Hungarian-born French lyrical abstract painter, member of the post-World War II Paris school, known as François Fiedler
Biography
At the age of five, Ferenc Fiedler already began painting on canvas with oil paints, creating a "mental studio", in which he lives and paints passionately for the rest of his life. In 1931, as a child prodigy, his works were exhibited among adult artists in the newly formed Benczúr Circle. In his teenage years, the Museum of Fine Arts purchased some of his paintings; 16 works bought by the Hungarian state are now part of the Hungarian National Gallery's collection.
In 1941, Fiedler began his studies at the Hungarian Royal Academy of Fine Arts in István Szőnyi's class, where he formed friendships with Lili Országh, Judit Reigl, and Simon Hantai. In 1948, his exhibition opened at the Hungarian Academy in Rome with Simon Hantai and from there he travelled straight to Paris on a scholarship, leaving both Hungary and figurative painting behind. In 1949, he participated in the fourth Le Salon des Réalités Nouvelles exhibition. In 1950, Joan Miró discovered him, accepted him as his friend, and dubbed him the "painter of lights." In 1951, the Galerie Maeght, the most progressive Parisian gallery of the time, featured the young Fiedler in a group exhibition introducing the upcoming young artists entitled ”Kandinszky et Giacometti”. From then on Fiedler had exhibitions with major masters of the 20th century contemporary art, such as Braque, Chagall, Calder, Giacometti, Kandinsky, Leger, Miró, Matisse, Picasso, and Riopelle.
Fiedler's work was regularly featured in the Galerie Maeght's exclusive art periodical Derrière Le Miroir, which also dedicated four separate issues to his art.
From 1960, the French state began acquiring his paintings. In 1965, he represented France at the Alexandria Biennale.
His significance in international art is highlighted by his solo inclusion in the 2012 exhibition in New York, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the American abstract expressionist painter, Jackson Pollock's birthday featuring 13 works of art, where he was the only European and Hungarian artist featured.
In 2014, Fiedler was featured in two Hungarian and three significant international exhibitions simultaneously. In Budapest, he had solo exhibitions at the French Institute and the Hungarian National Gallery with friends Simon Hantai, Joan Miró, Lili Országh, and Judit Reigl. The other three exhibitions, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Fondation Maeght on the French Riviera, included paintings, graphics, and ceramics, where he once again exhibited alongside friends Joan Miró, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, and Alberto Giacometti just like in the opening exhibition in 1964.
Throughout his career, Fiedler had numerous solo and group exhibitions in various European cities and in the United States. His works can be found worldwide, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Pollock-Krasner House in New York, the Pompidou Center and the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire in Lausanne and the Cabinet Cantonale des Estampes in Vevey, the National Library in Canberra, Australia and the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest.
2023
- Judit Reigl 100 | Judit Reigl And The Second School Of Paris (Group Exhibition)
Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary - The Fondation Maeght Thinks Big! (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
2021
- Monochrome Stories (Group Exhibition)
Centrul de Interes, Cluj-Napoca, Romania - I Whisper to My Past, Do I have Another Choice (Group Exhibition)
Einspach Fine Art & Photography, Budapest, Hungary - Calder, Soulages, Vasarely... Abstractions Plurielles (1950-1980) Collection De La Fondation Gandur Pour L'art (Group Exhibition)
Musée de Pully, Pully, France - Fiedler 100 (Solo Exhibition)
Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
2020
- Blue - Color of Infinity (Group Exhibition)
Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
2019
- François Fiedler: Image Praxes 2 (Solo Exhibition)
Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary - Image Praxes 2 (Group Exhibition)
Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary - François Fiedler Matiéres (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
2018
- The Spirit of a Collection: Donations (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France - Works by Hungarian Emigré Artists on '56 (Group Exhibition)
Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary - …na papieri 2 (Group Exhibition)
Galéria 19, Bratislava, Slovakia
2017
- Returned Artworks (Solo Exhibition)
Ferenczy Museum, Szentendre, Hungary - Intuition (Group Exhibition)
Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy
2016
- Codes/Signals/Images The Secret Art of The Revolution of 1956 (Group Exhibition)
Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Hungary - François Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
Kunkelemen Fine Arts Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
2014
- Editions Limitées (Group Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France - François Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
French Institute, Budapest, Hungary - The Hungarian Paris (Group Exhibition)
Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary - Dada and Surrealism. Selected Works from the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Group Exhibition)
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary - Face à l'oeuvre (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
2013
- François Fiedler Works 1945-1965 (Solo Exhibition)
Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary - Les grands maitres et la gravure (Group Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
2012
- Fiedler & Hargittai (Group Exhibition)
Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary - The Persistence of Pollock (Group Exhibition)
Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, NY, United States - Hantai - Reigl - Fiedler (Group Exhibition)
Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
2009
- François Fiedler - Retrospective (Solo Exhibition)
Bumbum, Budapest, Hungary - François Fiedler - Retrospective (Solo Exhibition)
Opera Gallery, New York City, United States
2006
- Le noir est une couleur (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
2005
- Rätselhaft? Informelle Druckgraphik Gestern und Heute - Sammlung Hartmann (Group Exhibition)
Kunstverein Speyer, Speyer, Germany - François Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
Musée Jenisch, Vevey, Switzerland
2004
- De l’écriture á la peinture (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France - François Fiedler - Retrospective (Solo Exhibition)
Hungarian Institute Paris / Institut Hongrois de Paris, Paris, France - The Color of Music (Group Exhibition)
Bleu Acier, Tampa, FL, United States
2003
- Rätselhaft? - Terra Magica - Informelle Druckgraphik Gestern und Heute - Sammlung Hartmann (Group Exhibition)
Galerie mesta Plzne, Pilsen, Czech Republic
2001
- Druckgraphik aus Frankreich nach 45 (Group Exhibition)
Museum Moderner Kunst - Stiftung Wörlen, Passau, Germany
2000
- Rétrospective François Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
Chateau des Bouillants, Paris, France
1997
- François Fiedler - Divertimento (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1995
- Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
Galería Maeght, Barcelona, Spain - François Fiedler - A chacun sa montagne (Solo Exhibition)
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chambéry, Chambéry, France - François Fiedler: livres á gravures (Solo Exhibition)
Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire, Lausanne, Switzerland
1990
- François Fiedler Retrospective (Solo Exhibition)
Pelaires Centre Cultural Contemporani, Palma de Mallorca, Spain - François Fiedler - Peintures et gravures récentes (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1989
- François Fiedler - Peintures 1965-1975 (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France - Peintures 1955-65 (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1983
- Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1982
- L’univers d’Aimé et Marguerite Maeght (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
1974
- François Fiedler - Gravures (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France - Xe anniversaire de la Fondation Maeght (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
1969
- The 8th Biennial of Graphic Arts (Biennial)
Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia - Peintres, illustrateurs, livres illustrés modernes depuis Manet (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
1968
- François Fiedler (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie M Beck, Homburg/Saar, Germany - Salon de Mai (Group Exhibition)
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France
1967
- François Fiedler - Peintures 1966-1967 (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France - 10 ans d’art vivant / Ten Years of Living Art 1955-65 (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
1966
- Dix ans d’art vivant 1945-1955 (Group Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
1964
- Inauguration (Solo Exhibition)
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France
1961
- François Fiedler - Peintures (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1960
- Poètes, peintures, sculpteurs (Group Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1959
- Maeght Editeur 1960 (Group Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France - Fiedler - 1st solo Derrière Le Miroir issue (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1955
- Peintures (Solo Exhibition)
Galerie du Haut-Pavé, Paris, France
COLLECTIONS
France
- Centre Pompidou, Paris
- Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul
- Centre national des arts plastiques - CNAP, Paris
United States
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
- Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, NY
Hungary
- Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
- Ferenczy Museum, Szentendre
- Fiedler Foundation, Budapest
Switzerland
- Musée Jenisch, Vevey
Belgium
- Centre de la Gravure et de l'Image imprimée, La Louvière
