ARTIST: Americo Makk (Hawaiian, New York, Hungarian, 1927 - 2015)
TITLE: Masquerade
MEDIUM: oil on canvas
CONDITION: Missing a few flakes of paint. No visible inpaint under UV light.
ART SIZE: 27 x 39 inches / 68 x 99 cm
FRAME SIZE: unframed (In-House framing available)
SIGNATURE: lower right
CATEGORY: old antique vintage painting for auction sale online
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SKU#: 127175
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BIOGRAPHY:
Americo Makk, last name pronounced "Mahk", was born Imre Makk in 1927 in a town in western Hungary once known as Gyorszentmarton and later renamed Pannonhalma. His home stood in the shadow of the Pannonhalma Archabbey. Americo's father was the financial supervisor to the Benedictine monks who resided in the Abbey and taught in the local school. Americo began sketching at age six, and by the time he was eight, the Benedictine Brothers encouraged him further into art. Americo was 12 when the communist Russian army first invaded Hungary. At this time, his passion for painting became inexorable. His parents cautioned Americo that pursuing art as a vocation would lead to poverty, and that a career in architectural engineering was more suitable. Americo's formal training as a painter began at the Hungarian National Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest from 1945 through 1948. At the age of 21, he received a scholarship to Italy and studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Rome beginning in 1948.As Hungary was effectively under the control of communism becoming a satellite state of the Soviet Union and administered by the Hungarian People's Republic, he had doubted the authorities would allow him to accept the scholarship in Rome. Americo was reserved in conveying his memories of the communist takeover in interviews for fear of reprisals against family members still in Hungary, simply describing the period as "very unpleasant." However, where his words could not describe, his painting of the Russian takeover was reported as depicting "all the grief and agony that the people of Hungary have suffered... Once in Rome, Americo focused his studies on ecclesiastical art and the works of Renaissance masters, such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci.While studying at the Academy, Americo met the 16-year-old Eva Holusa, a fellow student also of Hungarian descent, whom he later married and worked alongside for the remainder of his life. He went on to instruct at the Rome Academy of Fine Art. It was then that he won the Vatican Portrait Award with a portrait of Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, a figure personifying opposition to communism in Hungary in support of religious freedom, which was installed in the Vatican for permanent display.