It Fell from the Tree (1960)

Sándor Ernyei studied at the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts between 1946-1947 and at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts between 1948-1951, where his masters were György Konecsni, György Kádár and Sándor Ék. In 1959 he was awarded the prize for the best poster of the year. From 1960 to 1988 he was the first teacher of his alma mater. He was a member of the Papp Group and regularly participated in its exhibitions from 1963 to 1982. He was the main organizer and director of the National Design Biennale. 

Like other talented graphic designers of the time (e.g. György Kemény, Árpád Darvas), Ernyei was mainly employed by film (Mokép) and large foreign trade companies (IBUSZ, Hungexpo). He made emblems, logo designs, advertising prints. His posters are characterised by a lyrical undertone and a lightness of line. Typography is his strong point, and he likes to use calligraphy. In the 1960s, he was one of the innovators of poster art, using elements of Art Nouveau, Pop Art and Op Art.

Ernyei experimented with paper collages in the early sixties. These can be compared to the collages of Árpád Darvas and the ink drawings of Albert Kováts. Ernyei depicts Newton's well-known example of gravity in a very mechanical, engineering setting. The 'canopy' of the artificial structure is made up of gears, and only the negative form of a leaf refers to the original tree. And the black apple may not fall, but rolls along the op-art patterned diversionary path. Ernyei ironically suggests that man thinks he can interfere with the natural order with impunity.