Biography
Imre (Emory) Ladányi was a student of Vilmos Aba Novák. In addition to his medical studies in Budapest, he made drawings and paintings, woodcuts and illustrations. He obtained his medical degree in 1927 and then moved to Berlin to study dermatology. During his years in Berlin, he was influenced by Edward Munch and German Expressionism. In 1927, some of his works were featured in the exhibition of the most significant organ of expressionist art, Der Sturm. After Berlin, he moved to Vienna for a short time, where he became acquainted with the art of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, and then returned to Hungary in 1928 to study. Among his friends were many avant-garde poets and writers. In 1929 he moved to New York, where he worked as a doctor. He spent his free time in the company of avant-garde artists who inspired him to paint. His friends were composer Edgar Varese, poets Kenneth Patchen, writers Anais Nin and Henry Miller. During World War II he worked as a military doctor first in North Africa and then on the Italian front. In 1945 he lived in Budapest and Kecskemét for a while, but in 1946 he returned to America.
In his art, a turning point followed in the fifties, when he started to paint abstract images, moving away from the depiction of concrete forms. He mixed foreign materials into the paint to create works with a special texture. He also made sculptures, colored woodcuts and collages using similar techniques. His oil paintings grew larger, with some of his triptychs exceeding three meters. He has exhibited again since 1954: he has presented his works in several individual and group exhibitions in America and European cities. His works can be found in public collections in Hungary, among others in the Hungarian National Gallery, in the Szent István Király Museum in Székesfehérvár, in the Kecskemét Gallery. In America, several public collections preserve his work.
