Fraternity-Testvériség, 1961 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1961-03-01 / 3. szám
4 FRATERNITY REFUGEE ARTISTS EXCEL IN MANY FORMS OF ART Reprinted from "The Nashville Banner" — February 10, 1961 By CORINNE FRANKLIN If versatility is a European trait, then Americans have much to learn from Ilona and Sándor Bodo. Four years ago, Bodo, who had been a political prisoner of the communists, escaped with his family from Hungary into Austria following the revolt of the Freedom Fighters. They immigrated to this country and lived first in Washington. Then two years ago, they came South to Nashville (Tennessee) where Bodo is an illustrator with the Baptist Sunday School Board. They left Hungary with a paint box, a few textiles, two art books and one child. Now, with another child born in this country, they are rebuilding their lives, joyous in the exhilarating light of freedom that so many Americans forget to appreciate. New Exploration Bodo has an astonishing range of talents. Currently on his easel is a prairie scene with a Hungarian peasant riding in an open cart, whipping home his horses, as the thunder and fury of a storm breaks overhead. It is an accumulation of knowledge past, of the tradition in which he lived. He intends this painting to be the last of his “Hungarian style”. New exploration is necessary in a new land, and already the darkness of well-defined shadows, played against a luminous yellow, are found in his recently-completed works. Hanging on the wall of his home is an abstraction, an experiment with color, form and circular movement. It will take a few years, he says — a few more years. But painting, in any medium, is only the beginning. An engraving won an honorable mention at a recent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute and his commemorative stamps honoring the Hungarian Freedom Fighters were in a prominent display last March (1960) at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. His design for five postage stamps has just been accepted by the Maidive Isiands. To go farther, his reputation as a restorer is such that he has just finished working on an original Rembrandt from a private collection in New York. In addition, he is a sculptor, and lists photography among his hobbies. And, oh, yes, he also makes violins. He claims he doesn’t “really play”, but he probably does. Nothing is very surprising in the Bodo household. Ancient Art of Batik As for Mrs. Bodo, she is also painter, illustrator, designer — but it is in her textile work that she transcends reality to a gossamer and lyric beauty.
