Octavian or Octav Smigelschi (last name also Smigelski, Smighelschi, Szmigelszki, or Szmigelschi; ; 21 March 1866 – 10 November 1912) was an Austro-Hungarian painter and printmaker, one of the leading culturally Romanian artists in his native Transylvania. Of mixed Polish, Aromanian, and possibly Ruthenian, background, he identified mainly with the Romanian-speaking Greek-Catholics, although some of his most important work was also done for the rival Romanian Orthodox Church. Smigelschi studied under Bertalan Székely at the Drawing School and Art Teachers' College in Budapest, becoming familiar with the historicist trend in contemporary Hungarian art. While working on and off at high schools in Upper Hungary and Transylvania, he experimented with borrowings from ancient Romanian handicrafts. Smigelschi's European journeys with Arthur Coulin took him to Cervara di Roma, where he studied Renaissance art, while moving away from academic art and into Symbolism and Art Nouveau.
Modernizing themes from Romanian folklore and Byzantine art, from 1903 Smigelschi focused his effort mainly on Christian art and modelli, including initial work for decorating Blaj Cathedral. He was among those commissioned to paint Sibiu Orthodox Cathedral, which required him to study religious art in the neighboring Kingdom of Romania. Smigelschi's "new vision" combined elements of Symbolism into the Orthodox tradition—a synthesis also found in his murals for smaller churches throughout Transylvania, and in his work on icons. His contribution was relatively ignored in Romania, but well-liked in Transylvania and Transleithania at large, earning Smigelschi the Vilmos Fraknói prize in 1907. After living as an expatriate in Rome, he died of a heart disease while he was preparing to focus his work on Hungarian churches.
Biography
Background and early life The artist's father, Mihail Śmigielski, came from Partitioned Poland. According to historian Nicolae Iorga, the family descended from chorąży (standard-bearers) to the Polish king.Gogâlea, p. 15 Another writer suggests a Ruthenian background; Mihail was an Eastern-rite Catholic, and the Austrian Partition of Poland was home to numerous Ruthenian Greek-Catholics. However, he does allow for the possibility that the elder Smigelschi adopted the faith after arriving in Transylvania. Octavian Smigelschi's own ethnic identity has been subject to some debate, with both Polish and Hungarian suggested, but he considered himself as Romanian,Gogâlea, pp. 7, 10. See also Iorga, pp. 59–60 and was described by Transylvanians as the region's "only Romanian painter.""Cronică. Pictor român", in Foaia Poporuluĭ, Issue 28/1896, p. 221
Mihail was a member of the szlachta noble class who fled Poland following the 1848 Revolution and arrived in the Principality of Transylvania in 1850.Oprescu, p. 816; Păcurariu, p. 27 Initially settling in Bungard, he married Ana Sebastian, an Aromanian from Macedonia and also a Greek-Catholic.Gogâlea, p. 15. See also Oprescu, p. 816 Later, he moved to Nagyludas in Szeben County, now Ludoș, Sibiu County, to work as a notary. He became involved with the cultural life of Romanian communities, and was noted for his participation in a choir which performed at Tălmaciu in February 1887."Teatru și musică. Producțiune școlară în Tălmăcel", in Familia, Issue 8/1887, p. 95 At Nagyludas, Mihail fathered four sons. One of them, Victor, obtained a Theology doctorate from the University of Vienna, teaching the subject and serving as a canon in Blaj. Another, Vasile, became an architect and was influenced by Romanian nationalism.Gogâlea, p. 15. See also Iorga, p. 60 Mihail's other son, Cornel Smigelschi, died in 1892, an event which inspired Octavian to paint a number of portraits from memory, and also to produce a series of drawings and canvasses of Abaddon.Vida, pp. 38–39. See also Chituță, p. 33 Cornel is depicted in the 1892 "Young Man Reading".Sabin-Adrian Luca, Dana-Roxana Hrib, Marile muzee ale lumii, 15: Muzeul Național Brukenthal, Sibiu/Hermannstadt, p. 110. Bucharest: Adevărul Holding, 2010.
Octavian Smigelschi began school in his native village, and in 1880 enrolled at the state Hungarian high school in Sibiu. There, he became close friends with Fritz Schullerus, and the two took art classes from Carl Dörschlag, a German immigrant. Following graduation in 1884, he obtained a public scholarship to study at the Drawing School and Art Teachers' College in Budapest, headed by Bertalan Székely, together with Schullerus.Gogâlea, p. 16 At this early stage of his career, he absorbed direct influences from Székely, Károly Ferenczy, and Pál Szinyei Merse.Savu Gruiță (2007), p. 260 & (2014), p. 200 During summer 1886, while on vacation, he dedicated himself to drawing the rural landscapes of Szeben County, which produced a long series of drawings and watercolors, all showing echoes from the Barbizon school, and, possibly, Smigelschi's familiarity with the artistic guidelines set by John Ruskin.Savu Gruiță (2014), pp. 192–195 Smigelschi completed his studies in 1889.Păcurariu, p. 27 The following year, he applied for a scholarship in Romania, explaining that Hungary was stifling his creativity.Gogâlea, p. 7 He was finally integrated by the Hungarian education system, and named art teacher in the Upper Hungarian (Slovak) town of Banská Štiavnica.Gogâlea, p. 16; Savu Gruiță (2014), p. 194
In 1890, Smigelschi held his first exhibition in Sibiu, alongside Schullerus and another Transylvanian Saxon colleague.Gogâlea, p. 17 In 1891Chituță, p. 31 or 1892, he was hired to teach art at the state high school in Elisabetopol. His ambition at the time was to replicate in Romanian Transylvanian art what Mihály Munkácsy had done for Hungarian art, in introducing the peasant as a central character and using the events of his life to create a national iconography.Chituță, pp. 31–32 Smigelschi held his teaching position until 1911, when he retired in order to focus on painting, although from 1905, when he moved to Sibiu, he was on a leave of absence for the same reason. During that interval, he began painting icons, which he advertised as "the only ones befitting our canon". Together with his brother Victor, Smigelschi also joined the Blaj chapter of ASTRA Society, a Romanian nationalist association."Consemnarea membrilor 'Asociațiunii pentru literatura română și cultura poporului român'. Starea dela 1 Iulie 1903", in Analele Asociațiunii pentru Literatura Română și Cultura Poporului Român, Issue IV, July 1903, p. 70
As described by art historian Gheorghe Vida, Smighelschi's other work of the period is a transition from Romanticism to Symbolism, with frequent lapses into Naturalism and academic art. Specifically, he belongs to the branch of Symbolism cultivated by Dörschlag, Hans von Marées, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Max Klinger, and Béla Iványi-Grünwald.Vida, pp. 37–39 Art historian Mihai Ispir views Dörschlag and Smigelschi as the two benchmarks of a transition from "the neoclassical 'ideal' to Symbolist 'idealism.Ispir, p. 153 Curators Sabin-Adrian Luca and Dana-Roxana Hrib describe Smigelschi's painting as bridging "temperate naturalism" and "influences from that branch of Symbolism which descends from German romanticism". As the 1890s went on, Smigelschi also became increasingly drawn to Art Nouveau, and was marginally affiliated with the Baia Mare School of painting, which saw him crossing paths with Ipolit Strâmbu.Abrudan (2006), pp. 61–62 Beginning in 1898, he undertook trips to Munich, Dresden, Vienna, Budapest, Florence, Rome and Ravenna, studying the local Renaissance art.Chituță, pp. 30, 33–34; Gogâlea, p. 17; Păcurariu, p. 27; Vida, p. 38 He bunked with Robert Wellman and Arthur Coulin at Cervara di Roma art colony.Vida, p. 38 Following this sojourn, Smigelschi expanded his Symbolist range. Initially, his paintings of Abaddon became more macabre; circa 1900, however, Smigelschi introduced a merrier derivation of Symbolism, exploring the motif of "wicked fairies", which has roots in Romanian folklore.Vida, pp. 38–40. See also Chituță, p. 33
Reportedly, Smigelschi's interest in Byzantine art first manifested itself in Italy, when he sketched after the monuments of Ravenna.Chituță, p. 30; Tăslăuanu, p. 185 He was, however, opposed to the revival of Byzantine mosaics by Miksa Róth and others, describing the technique as "minute and menial", with the inevitable loss of artistic quality between the artistic design and the finished product.Brigitta Mária Kürtösi, "Képzőművészeti alkotások mozaiktechnikájú rekonstrukciói", in Isis. Erdélyi Magyar Restaurátor, Vol. 19, 2019, p. 177 He focused his neo-Byzantine attempts on more pictorial techniques. In 1903, he had contributed icons and inconostases for twelve Transylvanian churches, including German Lutheran ones in Pretai and Rumesdorf.Abrudan (2006), pp. 63–64 Also that year, he held his second exhibition in Blaj, featuring exclusively religious works, including modelli for painting the Greek-Catholic cathedral. That October, his third exhibition took place in Sibiu, with 71 secular paintings and drawings.Gogâlea, p. 18. See also Abrudan (2006), p. 63; Savu Gruiță (2007), pp. 255–256
Among the displays was a 7 x 5 m carpet woven by peasant women from Maramureș based on his indications.Gogâlea, p. 19 It depicted an eagle rising above "New Jerusalem", to a background displaying the Romanian tricolorChituță, pp. 32–33 (or, officially, the Transylvanian colors).Serbările, p. 414 The show drew universal acclaim due to the newness of his style and the combination of popular Romanian motifs and peasant folk art he employed. The fourth show occurred in December at the Decorative art Exhibit in Budapest, and was praised as well, including by Octavian Goga in Luceafărul and by Károly Lyka in Magyar Iparművészet. The latter credited Smigelschi designs for Christian murals as an introduction into Byzantine and Orthodox art, but overall more lively than its canons. Lyka noted that the exhibit had been planned without giving Smigelschi due credit, but that "his name shan't remain unknown for too long.""Pictorul Smigelski aprețiat din nou", in Unirea, Issue 8/1904, p. 74
Sibiu cathedral and later years