Szalay, Lajos
BiographyARTWORKS FOR SALE
Biography
Lajos Szalay was born in 1909 in Őrmező. His talent showed early: his childhood war drawings were exhibited in Vienna in 1917. With puberty, he was more and more interested in the art world. For Szalay, art and literature were so close to each other, that they functioned as a unity. He considered his main mean of expression, the drawing, always as some kind of poetic expression.
His success with his drawings was supported by the fact, that he attended József Balogh’s drawing lessons. With his help, he was accepted at the artist camp of the College of Fine art, although he was only 17. In the summer of 1927, Szalay was accepted at the Academy in Budapest, as a result, his father banished him from the family. Ágost Benkhard was his master. He started his career as a painter, but rather quickly started working with ink drawings, and realised how well the line drawn with a feather can express emotions. During breaks from the Academy, he studied 9 months at the artist camp in Miskolc.
Between 1930-1931 he travelled to Paris and studied the art of Picasso, who later said about Szalay: “If two names of graphic artist survive the XXth century, the second will be mine. If there is only one, it will be Lajos Szalay.” In 1947 he already worked in Paris, between 1949-1960 he was teaching at the Tucuman University and Academy of Fine Art in Buenos Aires. He influences the Hungarian graphical generation mainly with his work Genesis in the 1960s and 1970s. After his period in New York (1960-88) he returned to Miskolc/Hungary.
Concerning his art, Szalay is not a person of harmony: he showed the cruel in order to present the world the lack of values. His drawings refer to every life, to the Bible, Mythology.
He illustrated characters from Hungarian and world literature, poems, novels and plays. Beside that he designed book covers, coloured book posters (in Hungary mainly for the Singer and Wolf editor – Új Idők Irodalmi Rt.)
After he returned to Hungary, he offered 450 drawings to museums in Hungary.
There is a constant exhibition of his life work in Miskolc.
| Year | Biography |
|---|---|
| 1909 | He was born in Őrmező |
| 1917-1918 | with his war child drawings he participated on exhibitions in Vienna |
| 1927-1936 | College of Fine Arts |
| He took study trip to Paris, where he studied the art of Picasso | |
| 1947 | He was worked in Paris |
| 1949-1960 | He taught at the University of Tucuman and the |
| the Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires | |
| 1961 | He moved to New York |
| 1988 | returned to Hungary and he settled in Miskolcon, and he donated hundreds of his works |
| to various domestic museums | |
| His teacher: Ágos Benkhard | |
| Awards | |
| 1993 | Honorary citizen of Miskolc County Town |
| 1992 | Kossuth-award |
| 1990 | Winter Exhibition of Miskolc, the prize of the Miskolc Gallery |
| 1989 | Outstanding artist |
| 1989 | Doctor Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctor), |
| Hungarian College of Fine Arts | |
| 1988 | Miskolc Winter Exhibition, Grand Prix |
| 1982 | IBA – Internationale Buchkunstausstelung Leipzig, silver medal |
| 1980 | Flag order of the Hungarian People's Republic |
| 1972 | 500. anniversary of the birth of György Dózsa announced |
| tender first prize | |
| 1947 | UNESCO scholarship, Paris |
| 1944 | Pál Szinyei Merse Society, Zichy Mihály graphics prize |
| 1936 | Budapest Capital city Painting Scholarship |
| 1928 | KÉVE graphics award |
| Single exhibitions | |
| 1999 | Budapest Gallery, Budapest |
| National Foreign Language Library, Budapest | |
| 1998 | City Gallery, Győr |
| 1997 | Vermeer G. de Arte, Buenos Aires |
| 1994 | Sárospataki Gallery |
| Zichy Galerie, Leiden (NL) | |
| 1993 | Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna |
| 1992 | Zichy Palace, Óbuda, Budapest |
| General Consulate of the Republic of Hungary [Győrfi Alexander], New York | |
| Szalay Permanent Exhibition Petro-house, Miskolc | |
| 1991 | Lajos Kossuth Cultural Center, Sátoraljaújhely |
| Vármegye Gallery, Budapest | |
| Gallery of Miskolc, Miskolc | |
| 1990 | Budapest History Museum, Budapest |
| County Library, Békéscsaba | |
| 1989 | Sándor Bródy County Library, Eger |
| 1988 | Mini Gallery, Miskolc |
| City Cultural Center, Mosonmagyarovar | |
| 1986 | County Library, Békéscsaba |
| 1984 | Vigadó Gallery, Budapest |
| 1983 | Zichy Palace, Budapest, Óbuda |
| 1981 | Gallery of Miskolc, Miskolc |
| County Cultural Center, Szolnok | |
| 1980 | Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest |
| 1976,1977 | G. Birger, Buenos Aires |
| 1975 | Nickolaus Exercise Center, New York |
| 1972 | Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest |
| 1969 | Gallery Ustel, Toronto |
| 1968 | Gaspary Gallery, USA |
| Rockefeller University, New York | |
| 1961 | Plastica G. de Arte, Buenos Aires |
| Wigder Gallery of Modern Art, Washington | |
| Hungarian Week, Rutgers University, USA | |
| Gallery of Fine Art, Virginia Beach | |
| 1959 | G. van Riel, Buenos Aires |
| 1958 | Montevideo |
| Pan American Union, Washington | |
| 1957 | G. Antigona, Buenos Aires |
| 1955 | G. Krajd, Buenos Aires |
| 1949 | Tucuman (Argentina) |
| Group exhibitions | |
| 1991 | The county library exhibits 50, Békéscsaba. |
| 1988 | Double psalm - literary illustrations, Helicon Museum, Keszthely |
| Winter Exhibition, Gallery of Miskolc, Miskolc | |
| 1985 | The Miskolc ancient gymnasiums and Ferenc Földes Secondary School's |
| teachers and students art exhibitions, Herman Otto Museum, Miskolc | |
| 1984 | Three Hungarian artist exhibition, New York |
| Graphics from the legacy of Erno Kallai, Óbuda Cellar Gallery, Budapest | |
| 1982 | Iba-Internationale Buchkunstausstellung, Leipzig |
| First National Drawing Biennial, Nógrád History Museum, Salgótarján | |
| Respect for the homeland. Hungarian origin abroad living | |
| Artists II. exhibition at Kunsthalle, Budapest | |
| 1975 | Peintures et sculptures des Artistes Hongrois en France, |
| Galerie ISIS-Hotel PLM, St. Jacques, Paris | |
| 1972 | Contemporary Hungarian graphics and statuette for the memory of György Dózsa, |
| Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest | |
| 1970 | Hungarian-born 20th-century artists in abroad, |
| Art Gallery, Budapest | |
| 1964 | Hungarian Artists in New York, Lys Gallery, New York |
| 1959 | Modern Hungarian graphics, Radnai Collection |
| 1948 | The Hungarian graphics for 11 years, City Gallery, Budapest |
| 1947 | Artists Since the release, City Gallery, Budapest |
| 1945 | Dózsa exhibition, the National Peasant Party, Budapest |
| Works in public collections | |
| Buenos Aires Museum | |
| Cambridge Museum | |
| István Dobó Museum, Eger | |
| City Gallery, Budapest | |
| Fogg M. | |
| Ottó Herman Museum, Miskolc | |
| St. Stephen King Museum, Székesfehérvár | |
| Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs | |
| Gallery of Kecskemét, Kecskemét | |
| Museum of University Notre Dame | |
| Miskolci Gallery, Miskolc | |
| Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest | |
| Ferenc Móra Museum, Szeged | |
| Mihály Munkácsy Museum, Békéscsaba | |
| I. Grand Gallery, Baja | |
| Nógrád History Museum, Salgótarján | |
| Petőfi Literature Museum, Budapest | |
| Ráday Museum, Kecskemet | |
| Gallery of Szombathely, Szombathely | |
| Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest | |
| Tucumani M. | |
| University of Chicago Museum. |
