Judit Reigl is one of the most well-known artists emigrating from Hungary at the end of the 1940s due to political reasons, similarly to Simon Hantaï and Vera Molnár. She became a successful artist in France and contributed a lot to the development of international abstraction with her experiments. Reigl graduated at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts, where she had the opportunity to study realistic style from her master, István Szőnyi. After the political turn she refused to follow the obligatory requirements of Socialist Realism, and after eight attempts she could finally emigrate and settle down in Paris in 1950. In her early career she was focusing on the surrealist perspective, which is apparent in her works made at the time. She joined the surrealists – the foreword of her first catalogue was written by André Breton. Her artistic development was heading towards abstract expressionism, dominating the rest of her career. Her works in the 1950s were based on wide paint brush gestures, using dark colours on light background through cyclic and explosive systems of lines. Later, the aesthetic quality of the various paint layers created a new series titled Guano. The silhouette of the human body became a returning pattern in the second half of her career, symbolising the dichotomy of universal and human on her large-scale canvases (Homme series). She was an experimenting artist; from the 1970s she created paintings by letting different paint materials interacting in organic, chemical ways. Next to painting, during the last decade of her career, crayon and pencil drawings played an important role, presenting art historical references as well as universal symbols by delicate and virtuoso drawing lines. Reigl’s art has been recognized by art history since the 1980s with growing attention and admiration. Her art works can be found in most of the world’s most significant museums as well as in Hungary in the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Ludwig Museum. Zsolt Petrányi

Judit Reigl is one of the most well-known artists emigrating from Hungary at the end of the 1940s due to political reasons, similarly to Simon Hantaï and Vera Molnár. She became a successful artist in France and contributed a lot to the development of international abstraction with her experiments. Reigl graduated at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts, where she had the opportunity to study realistic style from her master, István Szőnyi. After the political turn she refused to follow the obligatory requirements of Socialist Realism, and after eight attempts she could finally emigrate and settle down in Paris in 1950. In her early career she was focusing on the surrealist perspective, which is apparent in her works made at the time. She joined the surrealists – the foreword of her first catalogue was written by André Breton. Her artistic development was heading towards abstract expressionism, dominating the rest of her career. Her works in the 1950s were based on wide paint brush gestures, using dark colours on light background through cyclic and explosive systems of lines. Later, the aesthetic quality of the various paint layers created a new series titled Guano. The silhouette of the human body became a returning pattern in the second half of her career, symbolising the dichotomy of universal and human on her large-scale canvases (Homme series). She was an experimenting artist; from the 1970s she created paintings by letting different paint materials interacting in organic, chemical ways. Next to painting, during the last decade of her career, crayon and pencil drawings played an important role, presenting art historical references as well as universal symbols by delicate and virtuoso drawing lines. Reigl’s art has been recognized by art history since the 1980s with growing attention and admiration. Her art works can be found in most of the world’s most significant museums as well as in Hungary in the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Ludwig Museum. Zsolt Petrányi

Judit Reigl is one of the most well-known artists emigrating from Hungary at the end of the 1940s due to political reasons, similarly to Simon Hantaï and Vera Molnár. She became a successful artist in France and contributed a lot to the development of international abstraction with her experiments. Reigl graduated at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts, where she had the opportunity to study realistic style from her master, István Szőnyi. After the political turn she refused to follow the obligatory requirements of Socialist Realism, and after eight attempts she could finally emigrate and settle down in Paris in 1950. In her early career she was focusing on the surrealist perspective, which is apparent in her works made at the time. She joined the surrealists – the foreword of her first catalogue was written by André Breton. Her artistic development was heading towards abstract expressionism, dominating the rest of her career. Her works in the 1950s were based on wide paint brush gestures, using dark colours on light background through cyclic and explosive systems of lines. Later, the aesthetic quality of the various paint layers created a new series titled Guano. The silhouette of the human body became a returning pattern in the second half of her career, symbolising the dichotomy of universal and human on her large-scale canvases (Homme series). She was an experimenting artist; from the 1970s she created paintings by letting different paint materials interacting in organic, chemical ways. Next to painting, during the last decade of her career, crayon and pencil drawings played an important role, presenting art historical references as well as universal symbols by delicate and virtuoso drawing lines. Reigl’s art has been recognized by art history since the 1980s with growing attention and admiration. Her art works can be found in most of the world’s most significant museums as well as in Hungary in the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Ludwig Museum. Zsolt Petrányi

Judit Reigl is one of the most well-known artists emigrating from Hungary at the end of the 1940s due to political reasons, similarly to Simon Hantaï and Vera Molnár. She became a successful artist in France and contributed a lot to the development of international abstraction with her experiments. Reigl graduated at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts, where she had the opportunity to study realistic style from her master, István Szőnyi. After the political turn she refused to follow the obligatory requirements of Socialist Realism, and after eight attempts she could finally emigrate and settle down in Paris in 1950. In her early career she was focusing on the surrealist perspective, which is apparent in her works made at the time. She joined the surrealists – the foreword of her first catalogue was written by André Breton. Her artistic development was heading towards abstract expressionism, dominating the rest of her career. Her works in the 1950s were based on wide paint brush gestures, using dark colours on light background through cyclic and explosive systems of lines. Later, the aesthetic quality of the various paint layers created a new series titled Guano. The silhouette of the human body became a returning pattern in the second half of her career, symbolising the dichotomy of universal and human on her large-scale canvases (Homme series). She was an experimenting artist; from the 1970s she created paintings by letting different paint materials interacting in organic, chemical ways. Next to painting, during the last decade of her career, crayon and pencil drawings played an important role, presenting art historical references as well as universal symbols by delicate and virtuoso drawing lines. Reigl’s art has been recognized by art history since the 1980s with growing attention and admiration. Her art works can be found in most of the world’s most significant museums as well as in Hungary in the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Ludwig Museum. Zsolt Petrányi