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Jacques Faix
Born
Jakab Faix

29 June 1870 Arad, Austria-Hungary, (Now Romania)
Died1950 Arad, Austria-Hungary, (Now Romania)
Resting place"Pomenirea" Cemetery Arad
CitizenshipAustrian-Hungarian, Romanian
OccupationPiano Manufacturer
Known forPhotographer, Cultural Patron
Spouse(s)Maria Pessek, Ilona Reitter
Signature

Jacques Faix (/ʒɑːk/, /fɛ/; born June 29th, 1870) was a Hungarian-Romanian pictoralist photographer, piano manufacturer and cultural patron best known for his contribution to photographic art and advancing piano craftsmanship in Arad.

Early Years

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Jacques Faix (Jakab Faix) was born in Arad, three years after the creation of Austro-Hungarian dualism. He also seems to have had a sister named Anna.The origin of the name is unknown, possibly from french where it is used as a metonymic occupational name for a gatherer or seller of firewood from Old French fais 'bundle of firewood'.[1]

His father was a tailor who married the daughter of a carpenter named "Koditek" (Jacques Faix's grandfather) in Arad. This is relevant because the young Jacques was apprenticed in his grandfather's workshop, the same workshop where the future famous painter Mihály Munkácsy was apprenticed for two years.[2]

In 1889 Jacques Faix leaves for Vienna after graduating from the School of Arts and Crafts in Arad with a specialization in organs, where he is taken in for an apprenticeship by a certain Anton Pokorny. Following the model of the craft guilds, which were still in use at that time, between 1889 and 1895 he travels to various parts of the Austro-Hungarian empire to visit other piano manufacturers workshops to attain his guild status of master.[2]

After 7 years of study and apprenticeship, he becomes a master piano maker. At 25 in 1895 he opens a piano workshop at Hofmuhlgasse 12 in Vienna. He meets and marries his first wife, Maria Pessek, a pianist in Vienna, in 1901.[2]

Anna and Jaques Faix 1878

Return to Arad

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His return is most likely due to him responding to the invitation of the Baron of Arad Alfred Neuman and the director of the Arad Conservatory such as to set up a cultural hotspot in Arad.[3] Nevertheless he organises concerts and parties for the elite starting from 1901 onwards in his house on Episcopiei Street nr.25 (which he restores completely)and in the White Cross (Romanian: Crucea Albă) hotel in Arad. He invites musicians and poets such as Ady Endre and Pablo Casals which also seem to have been good friends of his.[2]

Jaques Faix with the Arad Photo Club circa.1906 (2nd from the right on the top row)

After the foundation of the Arad Photographic Club in 1906, the first national photographic exhibition in Hungary was organised in Arad in 1907, thanks to the care and hard work of Jacques Faix. After the founding of the Photographic Club of Arad in 1906 by Jacques Faix and 9 others, the first national photographic exhibition in Hungary was held in Arad in 1907. In the years to come, Jacques Faix is featured in photography magazines and papers such as "A fény". Jacques Faix was a professional photographer, and his art was honored with the silver medal awarded to him in 1911 at the International Photography Exhibition in Paris ( lesser prizes in Budapest, Vienna and Berlin).[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Faix Surname Meaning & Faix Family History at Ancestry.com®". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e Faix, Jacques; Kolta, Magdolna (2004). Jacques Faix: az aradi klasszikus. A magyar fotográfia történetéből. Kecskemét: Magyar Fotógráfiai Múzeum. ISBN 978-963-8383-51-8.
  3. ^ Citation needed