EU Countries
18 August 2016 - 13 November 2016
Exhibition: Lajos Szalay – Koloman Sokol – Pablo Picasso / Budapest
What the works of Lajos Szalay (HU) and Koloman Sokol (SK) have in common is a sensitive response to the current social situation. Both were sympathetic to the plight of the oppressed and poor. Both were brilliant drawers and excellent figure painters. The themes they depicted were very similar: family, female nudes, horses, bulls or erotic motifs. They were strongly inspired by antiquity. The works of both artists explore biblical themes and the motives of Don Quijote in his symbolic, futile fight with windmills. They have influenced several generations of artists in the countries in which they lived and worked, and their works are known beyond the borders of their homelands. Koloman Sokol emigrated to the United States in 1948 and never returned to Slovakia. Lajos Szalay left for Argentina and he and his wife returned to Hungary in 1988. Their works and those of the well-known Pablo Picasso are united by the themes of life and death, alienation and love. Lajos Szalay had a joint exhibition with Picasso, whilst Koloman Sokol was reputedly the only Slovak artist known to Picasso. An exhibition of the work of these three artists is to be held in Budapest, after the vernissage in Bratislava.
ILUSTRATTION: K. Sokol
