Janos Mattis Teutsch
(1884-1960) Artist

Janos Mattis-Teutsch, also known as Hans Mattis-Teutsch, was born in Brasso, the same Transylvanian town where the photographer Brassai ('man of Brasso', the working name of Gyula Halasz) was born. Mattis-Teutsch and Brassai were close friends, and Mattis-Teutsch had a strong influence on the younger man. Mattis-Teutsch was a painter, sculptor, and draughtsman. He lived in Budapest from 1912-1919 before going to Paris. Later he returned to live in Brasso. Mattis-Teutsch wrote a manifesto in which he proclaimed that post-impressionist art 'frees the activity of the Ego to the extreme'.