Desiderius Orban b. 26 November 1884

Also known as Orbán Dezső
  • Artist (Painter)
Desiderius Orban came to Australia from Hungary as a refugee from Hitler's European invasion. His intuitive modernist approach was especially reflected in his practice as a most influential teacher. in his later years he became known as the oldest living Australian artist.
Tags: Modernist, Age, Central European impact

Painter, teacher. Although he liked to describe himself as self-taught, Desiderius Orban was very much a part of the Central European modernist tradition that had a significant influence on Australian art in the mid-20th century. His other claim, that of being the Western world’s oldest living artist, was verified by the Guiness Book of Records shortly before his death at the age of 101.
He was born with the name Orbán Dezső at Győr, Hungary on 26 November 1884. After graduating in arts at the University of Budapest in 1904, he enrolled in art classes with János Pentelei Molnár.In 1905 he enlisted in compulsory military service. On completing this service he , like many other young artists of his generation, travelled to Paris where he studied at the open classes of the Academie Julian in 1906.
On his return to Budapest in 1909 he joined with other young artists to become Keresők (The Seekers), who consciously rejected the popular academic realism that was mainstream taste. In 1911 the group renamed themselves The Eight.
It was not possible for a young man to stay an artist in the years leading up to World War I. In 1912 he was called up to serve in the Balkan wars, and these evolved into World War I. His wife, Alice Vajda, was a doctor serving in the army.
After the war he returned to painting, and also to teaching. In 1931 he started his own art school, the Atelier, in Budapest. Neither his painting nor his Jewish cultural background found favour with the rising Nazi tide of the 1930s. One of his paintings was exhibited in the 1937 exhibition of Degenerate Art. The attacks on his art meant that he had an earlier wake up call than many of his fellow Jewish citizens, and he left continental Europe for London before the outbreak of war.
Subsequently he relocated to Australia and on arriving in Sydney modified his name to be Desiderius Orban. Even though he was no longer young, he enlisted in the Australian army as a private. By the end of the war he had started his own school, and work had been purchased for the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His long Australian career was marked by many solo exhibitions, and some prized. However his greatest impact was not so much in his art as in the impact of his teaching on generations of Australian artists as he helped free their approach to paint and materials and to dare to experiment.

Writers:

Joanna Mendelssohn
Date written:
2013
Last updated:
2013