István Pekáry

Painter, graphic artist, textile designer. He completed his studies at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts under Gyula Rudnay. He studied in Rome for several years with a state scholarship. He held his first exhibition in 1931 at the Tamás Gallery, and in 1933 he presented his new works at the Frankel Gallery. Already at the start, he won several recognitions (e.g. in 1930, the commendation certificate of the Szinyei Society, in 1931, an honorary certificate; in 1932, he received a Nemes Marcell scholarship). silver medal at the Milano Triennale in 1934; Diplome ďHonneuer at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937; and won the grand prize at the 1940 Milano Triennale.

 

Between 1935-1937 he was a teacher at the New York School of Art. In 1940-43, he continued his education in Italy as a scholarship holder of Bp. Székesfóváros. In Rome, in collaboration with the ballet artist Aurél Milloss and the composer Sándor Veres, who lived there, he created set and costume designs for numerous Kodály, Veres and Stravinsky ballets and operas. In 1941-42 he designed for the ballets of the Teatro delle Arti and the Teatro dell Opera in Rome, and Alban Berg-Büchner: Woyzeck c. designed the scenery for his opera. In 1945, the Madách Theater Zsigmond Móricz: Lúdas Matyi c. he created sets for his comedy and several foreign theaters (e.g. Stockholm, Kungliga Teatern, 1948; Florence, Maggio Musicale, 1959; Vienna, Staatsoper, 1962).

 

In addition to fresco painting, textile art and set design, he also created paintings. His art is characterized by a uniform style, medieval Italian painting traditions, elegance, the Mediterranean landscape and color scheme, a fairy-tale-like, lively, fresh way of depicting the real and the unreal together, and the powerful decorativeness of natural motifs. The most common subjects of his paintings are the Bible, the Hungarian folklore and historical events (Eden, 1975; Vasárnap, 1973; Sziget, 1973; Free Team 48, 1974). His most important exhibitions: Tokyo (1937); Bp., Ernst Music, (1961, 1975); Turin (1965, 1967); Zurich (1966, 1971); Florence (1968). His works can be found in the MNG, the Ferenc Móra Museum in Szeged, the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs, as well as in domestic and foreign public and private collections.