Ernő Tóth | Sculpting in the Footsteps of Mastery | Summer exhibition

Ernő Tóth was born in Sajóecseg (Hungary) and he studied sculpture in high school. His style was strongly determined by the period what he spent in the studio of the Hungarian Opera House. The costumes, props, but mainly the milieu captivated him. After he was leaving the Opera, he studied painting at the College of Fine Arts, where his masters were Jenő Barcsay, Iván Szilárd and László Patay. His first exhibition in Dunaújváros in 1980 has been followed by more than. His creations have traveled beyond our borders: he has achieved success in Austria, France, Finland, Germany and Sweden. The contemporary sculptor often pairs incompatible elements: the distorted with the majestic, the lovely with the comic. The artist is a master of this, his figures painted in oil or made of bronze perfectly combine the opposites. His delicate stick sculptures with a rustic surface are not without humor and irony, which comes from the fact that he emphasizes the essence when modeling them. His latest bronze sculptures, more plastically shaped, consist of fabulously grotesque figures. The pieces of the Hommage series aptly condense the characteristics of their recipient: the painted head evokes Arcimboldo of the Renaissance, considered a forerunner of surrealism, the curvaceous ballerina evokes Botero from Colombia, and Szent György the Slayer evokes us to Bosch. The pleasantly grotesque animals of Noah's Ark form a composition rich in details, but childishly naive. Ernő Tóth's world is populated by animals, birds, fairy-tale characters, and artists. Their appearance is sometimes grotesque, but they are extremely lovable and cheerful characters.

Another special feature of our chamber exhibition presenting bronze sculptures is that, it presents the unique pieces of Ernő Tóth.

(Fábian Takats)