Szunyoghy, András

Biography

András Szunyoghy was born in 1946 in Pécs. During his secondary school years he trained himself by drawing groups, than in 1964 he applied for the Hungarian College of Fine Arts, but he was able to enter only the evening preparatory, where Simon Sarkanytyú was his teacher. In the next year he was admitted to the Hungarian College of Fine Arts, in the painting class of György Kádár. Two years later he went Sándor Ék master’s graphic class, where he graduated in 1970. Between 1971 and 1973 he studied engraving in the Hungarian Banknote Printing, and in the same year he got the Derkovits scholarship as well.

With the organization of Young Artists Studio, he visited Georgia, than in 1980 he got scholarship to Iraqu, where he was the guest of the Iraqi Ministry of Culture for one month. In 1982 by the Fine Arts Association's mandate, he equipped a graphic reproduction workshop in the Hungarian Academy in Rome. There he met with Amerigo Tot. He had exhibitions in Florence, in the Medici Palace, in Assisi and in the Hungarian Academy in Rome. From 1989 until his retirement he was professor at the Fine and Applied Arts School, meanwhile he also taught in the University of Applied Arts, as lecturer, between 1996 and 2002.

In his first artistic era he mostly prepared etchings and lino cuts, which tone were sarcastic, ironic and grotesque. In the early 80s his graphics became absurd from the grotesque, but still strong charade-like diction. Then he began to paint landscapes with oil paint, which are directly linked to the “Alföld” painting. He designed stamps for Mongolia, Yemen and Hungary. In addition to the Peacock - and the Forbear Animal series with his engraving stamps he became success.