Jacques Faix was a well-known name in his time in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague due to his achievements in piano manufacturing and pictorialist photography.
With an impressive portfolio of previously unpublished photographic plates, which were also awarded at international exhibitions, the pianos he crafted were not only instruments of exceptional sound quality but also of remarkable visual aesthetic value, characterized by the sculptural and painterly elements specific to the era. This is the portrait of an authentic personality who left a significant mark on his time.
Piano construction and his close relationship with the Neuman family were two of the elements that brought Jacques Faix into constant contact with the European nobility.
Jacques Faix enjoyed a flourishing social life both in Vienna and, especially, in his house on Episcopiei Street in Arad, as evidenced by the visits of Ady Endre and Pablo Casals to the Faix family. For our purpose, it is of particular importance that Jacques Faix played a decisive role in the cultural life of the city on the Mureș River, especially through promoting photographic art—an almost unexplored field in the region—by organizing the first photography club in Arad.
Jacques Faix was a visionary, and we allow ourselves to make this statement when considering the original way in which he promoted tourism in Arad by organizing musical soirées in the famous “Piano Salon,” a charming room in his family home on Batthyány Street, today Episcopiei Street no. 25.
