Végvári Lajos: Szalay Lajos (Miskolc, 1990)

for humanity. If he isn't as manysided as his ideal Picasso, he is equal: because for Szalay art isn't a play. He declares with our poet: „Among the assassins the dumb is an accomplice". He never denied this creed. Lajos Szalay was born February 26,1909 at Őrmező, a village of northern Hungary (now Czechoslovakia). His parents return after his birth to Miskolc. Their first born son Lajos lived until his eighth year in his grandfather's house at Tarnabod (county Heves). Those years were for him the most beautiful of his life. He is proud of his fine Hungarian accent learned from his grandmother. The simple natural life of the country-people, their kindness and franchise are the happiest memories of his childhood. He went to secondary school in Miskolc at the catholic grammar school. He preferred natural sciences and Hungarian literature. His favourite writer was Jókai, the famous novelist, he prefers him still. His literary works won even some prices and his teachers tried to lead him in this direction. Meanwhile his interest for fine-arts developed, too. The fundaments of his art-studies began at J. Balogh's drawingclasses in Miskolc, where he won a second price. Having seen his works Szalay was soon invited by professor A. Benkhardt from Academy of Fine Arts Budapest to join a summer-course hold for adult puplils at Miskolc. After graduation he was immediately accepted to the Acadamy of Fine Arts at Budapest. He learned in the painting-class of prof. Benkhard from 1927-to 1935. His master A. Benkhard directed him to the school of Hungarian „plein air"; their aim was to paint after nature. Under the conduction of pr. Benkhard he studied the masters of the Italian renaissance. Their ambition to achieve perfection through a logique systhem, is respected by L. Szalay until today. His father being a railwayman, procured his son a gratis ticket for Paris where he stayed nearly for a year. Picasso was it who had the major influence on Szalay's art. On the impact of the great Spanish master he ceased painting and dedicated his life to drawing. He aspired to reflect with the lines of his drawings his ideas and the animosity of his artifacts. After taking his degree, the editor Farkas discovered the talent of L. Szalay and entrusted him with the illustration of his magazine „Új Idők". In this revue he was able to develop his graphic art. Hoping for publication he made illustrations for his favourite novels as the Karamazow Brothers from Dostoyewsky and Don Quichote of Cervantes. In the year 1941, a small album had been published with 60 drawings introduced by a remarquable essay from Kassák, personality of great importance of the Hungarian avant-garde. This publication put the previously unvalued graphic art in the first line of Hungarian fine-arts. Generations of artists have been educated on the drawing of this book. In 1945 the magazine „Új Idők" had published the finest drawings of L. Szalay. At the end of 1946 as illustrator he accompanied to the Peace Negotiations of Paris the Hungarian Delegation. That was his third trip to that city. On behalf of Rouault Szalay obtained the scholarship of UNESCO. In 1948 he got an invitation to teach on the Academy of Fine Arts in Argentina. The most famous of his published volumes were the illustra-