Portraits/Arckepek

This is from a photograph of my father when he was in his mid-fifties. I was given the photograph by one of his lady friends a few weeks before he died at age seventy-nine.

This is a portrait of my wife’s uncle, Janos. He is a shepherd who tends to his flock of sheep on a small farm between Mindszent and Hodmeovasarhely. I was very happy with how this painting came out and it pushed me to continue painting.

This is a portrait of Gabor Rozsa, who was a author, historian, amateur photographer and former curator of the Koszta Jozsef Museum in Szentes. He was also quite a character. This is from a photograph of him playing the violin which he did with Katalin Mucsi every Thursday, and I was invited to watch and sample their wine.

This is a portrait of Hungarian-born historian, John Lukacs. This was taken from a photograph that I found on the internet. He was a good friend and mentor to my wife and I as he lived only half an hour away. We had many cherished dinners together laden with wine, delicious food and stimulating conversation.

This portrait is of Kaiser Wilhelm II. This is from a colorized photograph that I found on the internet. What struck me about this image was the blue eyes and the off-white background.

This is a portrait of Kristof Szalay-Bobrovnicky who is the current Hungarian Minister of Defense and former Hungarian Ambassador to Great Britain. As in the case of my portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm II, I have no connection to the person, but from an artistic point of view, I liked the dramatic black background and really the only color coming from his face and hand. The painting also conjures up visions of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

This portrait is of yours truly. I wanted to portray the image of a bumbling, Biedermeier, hunting character not too intent on hunting but enjoying the outdoors with his dog.

This is a portrait of Gabor Bences, one of the Hungarian Hussars who parade for festive events or stand guard at the Castle.

This is a copy of a portrait of Francis Korbay by Philip de Laszlo. Again, not much of a connection here other than the lush skin tones and the dramatic dark background.

This painting is a copy of another painting that I saw on Ebay but was way out of my price range.

This painting is a copy of a painting that hangs in a pension in Pecs, Hungary. A friend took the photograph of the painting on the wall behind the receptionist’s desk. I liked the painting so I decided to copy it. If anyone has more information on the painting or pension, please let me know.

This painting is of Sherif Mahmood. I did a project called the “Faces of Lansdale” in 2012 when I was the mayor of Lansdale. I painted sixteen portraits of different residents of Lansdale. This one came out particularly well.

This painting is another from the “Faces of Lansdale” project. This is Dick Stricker, who was a member of the Lansdale Historical Society and colorful character in town. You can read more about him in my blog, https://mayorszekely.wordpress.com/2015/11/18/dick-stricker/.

This painting is another from the “Faces of Lansdale” project. His name is Stan and this photograph was taken before the Memorial Day Parade in Lansdale in 2012.

This is a portrait of my daughter, Emmi, using the painter Anders Zorn technique using only four colors: ivory black, titanium white, vermillion red and yellow ochre. Unfortunately, this photo was the best that I could get, and it looks like she has severe bruising on her forehead. There is also some reflection of the varnish off her nose. In person, the painting is better.

This is a portrait of my daughter, Anna, also using the Anders Zorn technique. Unfortunately, I struggled with this painting in part because the photograph is not the best. Lesson learned that a bad photograph makes for a bad painting.

This portrait is of my lovely wife, Szilvia. It’s not bad but painting women is more difficult than painting men for obvious reasons.

This portrait is of Prince Philip. I liked the pose and the bowler hat and the age in his face– something that women don’t appreciate.

This portrait is painted from a colorized photograph of a soldier from WWI.

This painting is a copy of a portrait of Generaloberst Arthur Arz von Straussenburg, who was the last Chief of Staff of the AustroHungarian Army (my great uncle, Laszlo Szekely, served under in him in WWI). Here, I liked the color combination and the slightly green background.