Lajos Szalay

Lajos Szalay was born in Őrmező , Hungary in February 26, 1909 and died April, 1995, at the age of 86, in Miskolc, Hungary. He left Hungary in 1946 and went to live in France. In 1948 he emigrated with his family to Argentina and became an art teacher in Tucuman. In 1960 moved to Chile and then to America.Charles Phipps writes:
"A short time later, after settling in New York City, Szalay became a sought-after illustrator of books and articles but, in the decades of Pop and Minimalist Art, never attained a major gallery exhibition. As he said in 1970, "Only drawing suits the aesthetic asceticism I demand of myself." Perhaps, the ascetic outlook of the poet, as well as his acerbic personality, kept him less than well known by all but the American-Hungarian community."
After returning to Argentina and Paris he settled in Hungary in 1986.
Szalay was an extraordinary draughtsman, He influenced a whole generation of Argentinean artists and I modestly like to count myself among them. In a private house in London I saw dozens of his drawings. The original of the one with the yellowish background is hanging in my living room.