I was born and raised in Ujpest on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary shortly before World War II. In 1956, as a recent graduate of Technical School, I participated in the uprising against the Communist government. Following the failure of the revolution I escaped to Austria and eventually came to the United States. I joined the US Army and served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division for 5 years. Returning to civilian life, I received my US citizenship and made my home in the Delaware Valley, working as an art director for Booz • Allen & Hamilton Inc.
From my early years I have pursued art - always dealing with the subject in a realistic manner. My first chosen medium was pen and ink - often combined with watercolor. This eventually led me to develop an interest in printmaking: first, etching, then wood cuts, and finally, multicolored serigraphs, which I have explored for the last 25 years.
I have studied at the Academy of Art in Budapest, Philadelphia College of Art, and the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia but consider myself primarily a self-taught artist. A great love of nature takes me to coastal dunes, wooded trails and mountain ranges for much of my subject matter. Historic Philadelphia and its environs have also captured my artistic eye and this work has been very well received. I return frequently to my homeland of Hungary and find inspiration there in both the land and its people for perhaps my most personal work.
In recent years I have found a means of combining fine art with my technical background as a graphic designer - an area of art which offers new and varied challenges from designing a serigraph of an historic vehicle to a finely detailed print of the early tools of modern medicine.
As a member of local and regional art organizations - American Color Print Society, Philadelphia Water Color Society, Philadelphia/Tri-State Artist Equity Association - I have exhibited and received numerous awards over the last 35 years - The Print Prize, The Pennel Memorial Prize for Graphics, The Grumbacher Award, Benton Spruance Award, just to name a few.
Commissions and Collectors
Philadelphia Free Library - AAI Corporation - ICF Kaiser Engineers - National Analysts Inc. - Booz, Allen & Hamilton Inc. - AC Transit - Temple University - Mitsubishi International Group - Urban Engineers Inc. - Fox & Lazo Inc. - Historic Landmarks for Living - Ceredian HR/Payroll Systems, U.S. Air - Philadelphia Airport and numerous individuals, businesses in the Greater Delaware Valley.
Publications
1989 The Best of Screen Printing Design
by Lisa Walker and Steve Blount, Published by Rockport Publishers - ISBN 0-935603-17-4