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The Life and Artistic Journey of Bernard Karfiol

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Bernard Karfiol grew up in Brooklyn. His formal training began early at the Pratt Institute, which led to a scholarship at the National Academy of Design. In 1902, he traveled to Paris to study under Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts. During this formative period in Europe, he participated in the Paris Salon d’Automne in 1904. His travels eventually took him through England and across the rest of Europe, and he later met Henri Matisse and Henri Rousseau while in Paris.

Upon returning to New York City in 1906, Karfiol worked as a teacher in a studio provided by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and joined the Ridgefield Artists Colony. His work was recognized by Hamilton Easter Field, who invited him to teach at a school in Ogunquit, Maine. Karfiol’s career included several solo exhibitions at the Brummer Gallery and representation by Edith Gregor Halpert’s Downtown Gallery. His notable works include:

Artistic Style and Recognition

Karfiol was a figurative painter whose work was characterized by a tenderness towards his subjects, sensual forms, and a soft palette of roses, oranges, and dusty blues. His later travels to Cuba, Jamaica, and Mexico in the 1930s inspired new subjects featuring stronger and more intense colors. His repertoire included portraits of children, nudes, landscapes, and marines.

Throughout his career, Karfiol received several honors for his paintings. In 1925–26, his work Seated Figure received an honorable mention at the First Pan-American Exhibition of Oil Paintings in Los Angeles. He earned an honorable mention in the Carnegie Prize at the 26th International Exhibition of the Carnegie Institute in 1927, and he won a gold medal at the Corcoran in 1928. His works are held in various collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.