Nagybánya artists' colony
The Nagybánya artists' colony was an art colony in Nagybánya, a town in eastern Hungary that became Baia Mare in Romania after World War I. The colony started as a summer retreat for artists, mainly painters from Simon Hollósy's szabadiskola (Free School) in Munich. The original group focused on plein-air painting. It was Hollósy's idea to have a summer school in a small town. Fellow artists Károly Ferenczy, Béla Iványi-Grünwald, István Réti and János Thorma were involved with the founding of the artists' colony. The colony attracted many artists from Hungary interested in learning the plein-air style taught by Hollósy in the bright atmosphere of Nagybánya. The colony held its first exhibition in 1897 at the Műcsarnok It was well received by some critics as reflecting the new style of European painting, and ridiculed by other critics. Through the course of its existence the teachers and students worked in the emerging modern styles such as Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, and Symbolism. Some styles were adopted and some rejected, along with the allegiance of various artists. Hollósy influence at the colony was overtaken by the style of Károly Ferenczy. Hollósy departed around 1901 to open another school in Técső, Kingdom of Hungary