János Fadrusz

János Fadrusz (Slovak "Ján Fadrusz"; 1858, Pressburg - 1903, Budapest) was a Hungarian (according to some Slovak sources a Slovak) sculptor. He was a celebrated artist of the age with many important public commission.

Early life

Born in Pozsony (German: "Pressburg"), Hungary, Fadrusz came from a peasant family and went to school in Pressburg where he did four years of primary school and two years of secondary school before an apprenticeship as a locksmith. On completing the apprenticeship he won a gold medal for a portal design and his carved works where instantly met with recognition. He enrolled at the school of wood-carving in Zayugróc.

culptural work

During military service in Prague between 1879 and 1883 he met Josef Václav Myslbek, a famous Czech sculptor and his influence played a role in his change of direction into china painting and sculpture. "Ahusversus' Head", a plaster cast, was met with praise and brought him patrons. As the winner of a scholarship, he worked under Tilgner, a neo-baroque sculptor, in Vienna from 1886 onwards, then became the pupil of Hellmer at the Vienna Academy. Fadrusz also fashioned a list of portraits ("Cézar Scomparini" in 1886, "Károly Naszidler" in 1889, and "Mrs. Tivadar Ortvay" in 1888).

His "Crucifix", which he sculpted in Vienna in 1892, made him famous throughout Hungary.

Late in 1892, Fadrusz received a commission to produce the equestrian statue of "Maria Theresa" in Pressburg, which he worked on between 1892 and 1896, but which was later completely destroyed in 1918 by Czechoslovak Legions. In 1894 he was awarded the first prize for his plan of "Matthias", another equestrian statue, which was unveiled in Kolozsvár in 1902. He completed two allegorical statues for the Hungarian Palace of Justice in 1893 which are now in the possession of the Hungarian Ethnographic Museum).

His major works in the twentieth century modelled shortly before his death include the "Equestrian Statue of Béla Wenckheim" (Kisbér, 1901), "Statue of Wesselényi" (Zilah, 1901), "Tuhutum Memorial" (Zilah, 1902), and "Statue of Lajos Tisza" (Szeged, 1903).

Fadrusz also modelled two "Atlas Figures" in 1897 and two lions for the grand gates of Buda Castle between 1901 and 1902.

Fadrusz died in 1903.

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