Ambrus Diossy gives voice to the masters of history with a new twist. From Raphael to Rubens to Michelangelo, the Vero Beach oil painter channels inspiration from the classics.
His passion for art blossomed in childhood, when his parents relocated to Sarasota, which has designated itself as Florida’s Cultural Coast.
“When I was 5 years old, my family moved from Chicago to Sarasota. We visited the Ringling Museum and I looked at these two giant classical paintings and said, ‘I could do this,’” Diossy recalls.
The son of Hungarian immigrants, Diossy remembers creating his first works of art as an 18-month-old baby, even before that influential trip to the Ringling. Among his early subjects were people, replicas of Michelangelo’s works, and a garbage truck.
“I remember seeing a canister dropping to the ground from a garbage truck and feeling scared,” Diossy reveals.
Emotions continue to factor heavily into Diossy’s art, which his mother, a private duty nurse and accomplished Impressionist artist, strongly encouraged him to create. Diossy’s father, a skilled woodcarver hobbyist and owner of an auto body shop, also helped foster the young painter’s burgeoning craft.
He and his brother, Steve, owner of the Steve Diossy Marine Art Gallery in Vero Beach, made drawings together as children.
“It was a bonding experience for us. Eventually, he branched out into more modern paintings of marine life and I developed my classical work.”
Diossy’s body of work celebrates the Renaissance-era classicists who derived their inspiration from antiquity. The beauty of classical Greek and Roman sculptures comes alive in Diossy’s paintings, such as “Giuliano,” which depicts an ancient marble bust of Giuliano de’ Medici, a young co-ruler of the Florentine Republic who was assassinated in 1478.
Another painting, “Study of Venus,” is a nude that integrates the technique of chiaroscuro, juxtaposing the contrasts of light and dark. Like his classical predecessors, Diossy creates depth through the interplay of shadows and light.
Diossy’s portfolio is vast and features atmospheric landscapes as well as surrealist-inspired images of people. This influence is most notable in his painting “The Remains of the Day,” in which a man strums a guitar in a scene that is part Florida beach and part surreal mystery.
“Salvador Dali inspired me to let my imagination go,” Diossy says, crediting the Spanish Surrealist master.
But it was a French artist, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, who motivated Diossy to travel to Italy to develop his artistic skills. After exploring the work of the 19th century academic painter, Diossy decided to study at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy.
“His figures were absolutely beautiful. His work inspired me to go to Florence and paint like the old masters,” says Diossy.
“I studied in Florence from 2005 to 2014. During that time, I went back and forth between Italy and Florida. They told us that we would spend the first two years on drawing and that we wouldn’t touch a paintbrush during those two years,” Diossy says.
Initially disappointed with the slow pace of the program, Diossy quickly came to appreciate the discipline required to hone his craft. He attended classes for up to 10 hours per day, studying under the tutelage of the school’s owner, Michael John Angel of Manchester, England.
“When I came back to Vero Beach in 2014, I incorporated everything I learned into my own style of work. I knew I wanted to be a Surrealist and not just in the classical area of things,” Diossy reveals.
With a Surrealist twist, Diossy’s work breathes new life into classical art and makes a bold foray into the 21st century.
Diossy, who is fluent in Hungarian, also acquired some new, albeit limited, language skills from his time abroad.
“I’m good at getting by in restaurants. I can order a cappuccino!” he says with a laugh.
“But my classes were all in English, so I didn’t become fluent. I would love to go back to Italy just to study the language.”
To aspiring artists, Diossy advises his belief that travel is important.
“Find a classically based institution to learn from, even if you’re not interested in classicism. Start with that foundation to learn composition, color theory, and about the lives of the artists.”
Indeed, Diossy philosophizes that an artist’s life story is an essential component of a body of work. He acknowledges the possible threat of artificial intelligence infiltrating the art world, but believes that true artists will ultimately prevail.
“People have been worried about AI taking over art, but I think we’re seeing the opposite happen. People are really starting to look more into the artist and appreciate the fact that there’s a person behind the work; who made it by hand and infused their personality.”
Diossy’s own personality is on full display in his works, which have also included everything from label designs for bottles of absinthe to sweeping seascapes and dynamic landscapes. In addition to oil paint, Diossy enjoys working with other media such as charcoal and graphite.
A resident of Vero Beach since 1986, Diossy was recently the featured artist at the Artists Guild Gallery in exhibitions in May and June, “Between Worlds” and “Sea of Dreams,” respectively, featuring his large-scale oil paintings.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
