Georg Mayer-Marton

George Mayer-Marton (3 June 1897 – 8 August 1960) was a Hungarian Jewish artist who was a significant figure in Viennese art between the First and Second World Wars,[1] working in oil, watercolour and graphics. Following his forced emigration to England in 1938, he continued to paint in watercolour and oil. He pioneered the technique of Byzantine mosaic in the UK.

George Mayer-Marton
Born
Győrg Mayer-Marton

3 June 1897
Győr, Hungary
Died8 August 1960(1960-08-08) (aged 63)
Liverpool, England
NationalityHungarian
Alma mater
Known forPainting, murals

Biography

Mayer-Marton was born Győrg, or Georg in German, later changed to George on British naturalization, in Győr, Hungary in 1897, and grew up during the final years of Austro-Hungary. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War. From 1919 to 1924 he studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and Academy of Fine Arts, Munich and also visited Ravenna in Italy.[2] He settled in Vienna, and in 1927 became Secretary, later Vice-President, of the leading progressive society of Viennese artists, the Hagenbund. In 1928 he provided illustrations in the Chinese style for "Der Kreidekreis" ("the Circle of Chalk") by Klabund and submitted paintings to the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics, but did not win a medal.[3]

In 1938 following the Anschluss of Austria and the enactment of Hitler’s Nuremberg laws, Mayer-Marton and his wife, the pianist Grete Fried, fled to England.[4] In 1940, during the London Blitz, his studio home in St John's Wood was burnt by an incendiary bomb.[4] The majority of his life's work and personal possessions was destroyed.[5] He was not in a position to paint in oil again until 1948. Mayer-Marton's parents had remained in Gyor and were eventually deported and killed. When, in 1945, Mayer-Marton learned of their deaths he painted the work Women with Boulders, showing two figures in a bleak rock-strewn landscape.[6]

Once in the UK Mayer-Marton worked for the predecessor of the Arts Council. In 1952, he took up the post of Senior Lecturer in the department of painting at the Liverpool College of Art and introduced the new subject of mural art.[7][2]

He created several Byzantine-style mosaics during his career in the UK. He executed a number of mosaic commissions from the Roman Catholic Church, decorating schools and churches in the North West of England. The Roman Catholic church of Holy Rosary in Fitton Hill, Oldham, opened in 1955, contains a significant mosaic.[8] It is 8 m high and originally included frescos showing Mary and St John with a mosaic showing the crucifixion in the centre.[5] The frescos were painted over with white emulsion paint in 1980.[2] The church was closed in 2017 and remains unused in 2020.[5][9] A mosaic by Mayer-Marton of the Pentecost was moved from the Church of the Holy Ghost, Netherton, when it was demolished in 1989 and installed in the Chapel of Unity in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

He completed over 200 oil paintings while in Liverpool.[7] Numerous works are held in private collections and also in public art galleries including: Belvedere Gallery, Vienna; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Victoria Gallery & Museum, the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Derby Museum and Art Gallery; National Galleries of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.[4][10]

Mayer-Marton died from leukaemia in Liverpool in August 1960, leaving several of his mosaic designs unfinished.

Selected exhibitions
  • Memorial Exhibition, 1960, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
  • Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1976
  • Hagenbund, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, 1978
  • Die uns verließen, Österreichische Galerie, Vienna, 1980
  • Retrospective, Österreichische Galerie, Vienna 1986
  • Art in Exile, Berlin, London, Vienna, 1985/86
  • Centenary Exhibition, Györ, 1997
  • "Unspeakable” - Imperial War Museum, London, 2008
  • Forced Journeys: Artists in Exile in Britain c 1933 – 45, Ben Uri Gallery London, 2009
  • Galerie bei der Oper, Vienna, 2014
  • Hagenbund, Unteres Belvedere, Vienna, 2014-15

Bibliography
  • Hagenbund - A European Network of Modernism - Belvedere/Hirmer 2014
  • Austrian National Gallery - Georg Mayer-Marton Retrospective Catalogue, 1986
  • “The Hagenbund - The Lost Modernists” Oesterreichische Galerie, 1993
  • George Mayer-Marton Memorial Exhibition Catalogue, 1997
  • Georg Mayer-Márton, Galerie bei der Oper, Exhibition Catalogue, Vienna 2014

References
  1. Schmidt, Regine (1986). George Mayer-Marton, 1897–1960. Wechselausstellung der Österreichischen Galerie. 114. Vienna: Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. LCCN 87409410. OCLC 16657246. Catalogue of retrospective exhibition
  2. Pepinster, Catherine (26 February 2017). "Church closure threatens masterpiece by Jewish artist who fled Nazis". The Observer. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  3. "Georg Mayer-Marton". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. "George Mayer-Martin". British Museum. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  5. Sherwood, Harriet (13 September 2020). "Race to protect 'sublime mural' in Oldham church by artist who fled Nazis". The Observer. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. Talarico, Jessica; Lawrence, Gemma. "Artists' Responses To The Holocaust". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  7. "C20 Society steps in to help save rare mosaic". Twentieth Century Society. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  8. "Hollinwood – Holy Rosary". Taking Stock - catholic churches of England and Wales. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  9. "Rare Oldham mural under threat – SAVE calls for listing". SAVE Britain's Heritage. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  10. "Georg Mayer-Marton 1897–1960". ArtUK. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
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