KAROLY FULOP, 1891-1963

 Birth place: Czabadka, Hungary

Death place: Los Angeles, CA

Addresses: NYC, 1920s/Gloucester, MA, 1921; Los Angeles, by 1927

Profession: Sculptor, painter

Studied: painting in Budapest, Munich, Paris

Exhibited: Whitney Museum American Art, 1920-27; Society of Independent Artists, 1921; Gloucester, 1922, 1923; Babcock Gallery,

1924; Doll and Richards, Boston, 1925; Art Institute of Chicago, 1926; Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles, 1930 (solo); Los Angeles County

Museum, 1930 (solo); 1940 (solo); California-Pacific International Expo, San Diego, 1935; Foundation of Western Artists, 1936; Golden

Gate Exposition,, 1939; World's Fair, New York,  1939 (prize); Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, 1940 (Snyder Prize)

Comments: Began as a painter; turned to sculpture, modeling in ceramics and carving wood and ivory figures in the late 1920s.

He established a school for decorative arts in his Los Angeles studio in 1931. He often depicted figures engaged in religious practices.

Also designed two-part works.

Museums:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

San Diego Museum of Art

Periodicals:

American Art Review, 1995, April, The Figure in American Sculpture

Books (16):

Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson, The Artists Bluebook - 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005

Davenport, Ray, Davenport's Art Reference: The Gold Edition 

Hughes, Edan Milton, Artists in California: 1786-1940
McClelland, Gordon; Jay Last, California Watercolors 1850-1970,An Illustrated History & Biographical Dictionary

Falk, Peter Hastings, Who Was Who in American Art1564-1975

Fort, Ilene/Michael Quick, American Art - A Catalogue/Los Angeles County

Falk, Peter Hastings, The Annual & Biennial Exhibition Record of the Whitney Museum of Art 

Falk, Peter Hastings, The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago 

Hughes, Edan Milton, Artists in California, 1786-1940 

Falk, Peter Hastings, Who Was Who in American Art, Artists Active 1898-1947

Dawdy, Doris, Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary

Opitz, Glenn B, Dictionary of American Sculptors, 18th Century to Present

Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall, Southern California Art Publication 3, Dictionary

Marlor, Clark S, The Society of Independent Artists, Exhibition Record 1917-1944

Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge, Index of Artists International Biographical

Ball, Charlotte, Who's Who in American Art, Contemporary American Artists

Additional Biographical Information:

Karoly Fulop was born in 1893 in Czabadka, Hungry. He was a painter, sculptor, and watercolorist. Fulop studied art in Budapest,

Munich, a nd Paris, but it was medieval art that most influenced his style. His paintings, watercolors and sculptures all have the decorative quality

and detail typical of the Byzantines, a style that can still be seen today in many buildings in Budapest. Also evident in his work is the influence of the

Vienna and Hungarian Secessionist movements. Fulop is an artist of unique and curious combinations; he incorporated his Catholic background

with symbolist images, very modern yet in the tradition of past generations. As Fulop traveled other influences appeared in his work, his subjects

reflected his environment.

In New York he created sculptures with musical and nautical themes. In California the Spanish missions become

incorporated in his work, the image of the bell ringers was a reoccurring theme. Though his subjects varied his style remained quite consistent,

in ceramics, wood, bronze, paintings and watercolor. Some of his most important works are carved wood reliefs, polychromed, and inlaid with

carved ivory details. It is known that he did paint some traditional paintings of scenes boats and harbors.

Fulop moved to New York in 1920 and then to Los Angeles in the 1930s. He opened a school of decorative arts in his L.A. studio.

While living in Los Angeles he maintained a studio in Paris and spent time on the East Coast. Fulop exhibited in New York in 1921 at the

Whitney Studio Club. He exhibited in the Babcock Galleries in New York City around 1930, in the Stendahl Galleries in Los Angeles in 1930.

He also exhibited at the Doll and Richards Galleries in Boston. He participated in a group exhibition at the Grand Central Galleries in New York.

In California he exhibited at the Pacific International Exposition in San Diego in 1935, the Golden Gate International Exposition:

Treasure Island in San Francisco in 1939. He was included in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibition of 1980,

“Painting and Sculpture in Los Angeles: 1900-1945.” Fulop also gained fame for the murals he designed for the Philadelphia Public Library.

Fulop won an award at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, the Mr. and Mrs. Irving T. Snyder Prize at the San Diego Museum, and a

First Prize in 1937 and the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Fulop is represented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Fine Arts

Gallery in San Diego, the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Fulop died in Los Angeles on April 7th, 1963.

For information, call (901) 761-1163 or (901) 683-4668 or email mfcreech@bellsouth.net 

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