Janos Fadrusz, corner of Naphegy utca and Lisznyai utca, Krisztinavaros, Budapest

At the junction of Naphegy utca & Lisznyai utca in the Krisztinaváros, Budapest, is this bust by László Márton of János Fadrusz, who was a sculptor (possibly a better one than Márton). It was put up in 2010. 

The inscription says:

“Közelben állott Fadrusz János Műterme, ahol a Kolozsvárott felállított Mátyás Király szobrot alkotta Marton László szobrászművész ajándéka”

which I think means:

"János Fadrusz, who had a studio near here, in which he created the statue of King Matthias erected in Cluj-Napoca. This is a present from the sculptor László Márton."

Fadrusz was born in 1858 in Pozsony/Pressburg/Bratislava & died in 1903, aged only 45, in Budapest. 

There is a painting of him & links to some of his sculptures here.

I found a Romanian article which contained a huge amount of information including the startling information that, in order to get a crucifixion sculpture just right, Fadrusz crucified himself, hoping that he would gain a better understanding of the experience - that is dedication. 

I was delighted to discern the earnestness so typical of this end of Europe, expressed in this part of the article:

"In an editorial effort to bring back to the public opinion the personality of the sculptor Fadrusz János, little known in Romanian cultural circles, the Foto-Travel blog presented a series of articles dedicated to the 111th anniversary of the inauguration of two Fadrusz statuary groups and 110 years since the sculptor's death. This approach continues with this article dedicated to their creator, and will culminate in the coming weeks by organizing in Zalău a debate on the life and work of sculptor Fadrusz János."

A world where someone can think optimistically about organising a debate in a small rural town on the life and work of an obscure sculptor is a kinder, simpler world than the one I usually believe myself to be living in. The post is only 8 years old so I am hoping things have not changed dramatically in Zalau - although I have absolutely no appetite for seminars and lengthy discourses, I like the idea that someone does.

Here is the video of the debate. It's only an hour and a half long - and in Romanian:

That article, which for some reason I now cannot find, (although possibly it was this one), and this one both mention several sculptures by Fadrusz here in Budapest, as well as one in a little town about 100 kilometres away. I will seek them out and add photographs of them to this post over time. 

The sad news is that the sculptor's early death at 45 was due to tuberculosis.