He was born in Arad in 1883 and passed away in Baia Mare in 1953. His artistic studies began in Budapest, then continued in Baia Mare at the Free School of Painting between 1902 and 1903, becoming one of the favorite students of master Simon Hollósy.
Between 1911 and 1912, he was among the artists who worked independently at the artistic colony. He established a painting school in Moscow following the Baia Mare model. In 1931, he settled permanently in Baia Mare, actively involving himself in the artistic life of the Colony, also participating in collective exhibitions in 1945, 1946, 1947, and 1948. He was also a witness to the artistic community’s adherence to the Union of Visual Artists of Romania, so until his death, he was a full member of the Baia Mare Branch of U.A.P.R. Kiss Karoly’s technique highlights an impressionistic approach, with broad brushstrokes and special attention to the brightness and color of each element in the landscape. There is a chromatic balance as a dominant and as a surface between warm-cool contrasts that represent the sky’s surface and that of the earth, merging through the hills in the darkest shades of Prussian blue and violet glimpsed in the farthest plane. Thus, we have a romantic landscape that reminds us of peaceful living, probably a more distant perspective of the city from an angle where many urban elements are lost.
KISS KÁROLY
