Hugó Scheiber

Born. 20.09.1873 in Budapest
Died. 07.03.1950 in Budapest

Hungarian painter, Modernist

About the artist

Hugó Scheiber was born on 29 September 1873 in Budapest. When he was eight years old the family moved to Vienna where his father, a sign painter, found work as a scenery painter at the Vienna Prater. Scheiber, the oldest of ten children, had to find work to help financially.

When Schieber was 14 the family returned to Budapest. Scheiber left school to start work as a locksmith but later decided to follow his father’s profession as a sign painter. After his father fell ill, Scheiber dropped out of the drawing classes he was attending. At 21 Scheiber was called to serve in the army but he did not serve long due to the death of his father. As the oldest, he was now responsible for the whole family.

At 25 he attended courses at the School of Applied Arts in Budapest for two years. Scheiber’s artistic style was not considered acceptable and often resulted in conflict. He left the course to try and make a name for himself in the Hungarian art scene.

Between 1919 and 1921, a joint exhibition was held in Vienna. Working together with his artist friend Béla Kádár helped to influence Scheiber’s career.

Scheiber established himself through the Hungarian artistic community in Vienna and he started to earn money with his art. An international organizer of avant-garde exhibitions, Herwarth Walden, was impressed by Scheiber’s art and expected him to be a great success.

Between 1924 and 1930 Scheiber had nine exhibitions in collaboration with other famous artists. Walden’s promotion styles helped Scheiber to gain popularity abroad. His work was exhibited at the “International Exhibition of Modern Art” in New York in 1926, he proved to be so popular that the exhibition was extended.

The same thing happened in Italy when Schieber exhibited at the Mostra Nazionale d’Arte exhibition in Rome. The public was also impressed with his work and the exhibition was extended to accommodate.

Just before the second world war, his drawing Bildnis (Portrait) Dr. Luther was destroyed as part of the Nazi “Degenerate Art” campaign.

Scheiber decided to return to Budapest in 1939, where he lived in a small apartment.
He died on 7 March 1950. in Budepest.