Double Portrait (Béni and Noémi)

Since Ferenczy had been appointed a teacher, he started to paint more and more studio genres, e.g. still lives, nudes and portraits, and before very long, his interest turned to portraits. “Double Portrait” is a good example which demonstrates his decorative skills. Ferenczy enjoyed painting portraits of groups, some of his works from his late period were portraits of two or three people. His portraits were not just elaborate character portrayals, but compositions: he realized his ideas on composition. “Double Portrait” shows his 18-year-old twins, No�mi and B�ni. The picture is rich in authentic details of character. He painted the clothes of his children, No�mi’s dress with lace and B�ni’s grey pullover, with delicate care. No�mi’s white dress is a warm patch in front of the blue background. Greys and blacks of B�ni’s clothes might fade the picture, but the white and red folk art cushion restores balance. The composition is based on silhouette: a blue curtain closes space behind the figures, thus their silhouettes become more definite.