Sándor Molnár
(1936 - )
Photography: Lajta Gábor
born in Sajólád, Hungary
Began his studies at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1955. His Studio at the Academy was the scene of friendly get-togethers and intellectual workshops from 1958 on. In 1962 the collective thinking in Zugló, thus the name the "Zugló circle". The widening group continued regular self-training: collected, translated and argued through texts, and looked up the masters of the Hungarian avant-garde. He painted his first abstracts around 1956, which is when he came to know the Buddhust teachings and yoga. He wrote his theoretical and methodological treatise entitled Analysis of the elements of Painting in 1962. He met the philosopher Béla Hamvas, who had a powerful influence upon his art and perceptions in the beginning of the sixties. He made contact with Jean Bazin, whose lyrical, abstract style effected him in 1965 in Paris. He worked out his painting-yoga theory in 1966: it describes art, the relationship of reality and creation, the stations through which the ability to create is freed with the help of principles and terminology that belong to alchemy and yoga. He was guest lecturer in Nîmes in 1986. He is a teacher at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts since 1990.
EDUCATION
1955–61 Hungarian University of Fine Arts. MKE, Budapest (HU)
AWARDS
1992 Munkácsy Prize
2005 Kossuth Prize
2014 Day of the Hungarian Painting - Lifetime Achievement Award
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1966 Mednyánszky Hall, Budapest
1968 Spotless Space, KFKI Club, Budapest
1969 Sándor Molnár and Gyula Konkoly's exhibition, KFKI Club,
Budapest
1976 Hajdúszoboszlói Gallery, Hajdúszoboszló
Józsefvárosi Exhibition hall, Budapest
1981 Retrospective Exhibition, Kunsthalle, Budapest
1984 Sándor Molnár and Tibor's Helényi exhibition, Salamon Tower,
Visegrád
1986 Drawing exhibition, Óbuda Gallery – Institute Francaise,
Budapest
Retrospective Exhibition, Szombathely Gallery, Szombathely
1990 Sculpture exhibition, Culture Center of Óbuda, Budapest
1991 Portaits No. 5 Gallery, Budapest
1993 Óbudai Társaskör, Gallery, Budapest
1994 Fire Pictures, Vigadó Gallery, Budapest
L'esposizione del pittore Sándor Molnár, Római Magyar
Hungarian Academy, Rome
1997–98 Retrospective Exhibition, Kunsthalle, Budapest
1998 Szinyei Salon, Budapest
2002 Pelikán Gallery, Székesfehérvár
2003 Crystal Pictures, 1994–2002, Ernst Museum, Budapest
2005 Stages of Boundlessness Drawings and Aquarelles,
Szinyei Salon, Budapest
2006 Sunjata (Emptiness), Budapest Gallery, Budapest
2007 Kieselbach Gallery and Auction House, Budapest
2008 Works on paper, Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest
2010 Molnár Sándor: „Sunjata” – Empty Pictures (2007–2009) and
early works (1956–1974), MissionArt Gallery, Budapest
2013 Early paper works 1958–1978, MissionArt Gallery, Budapest
2016 [ śūnyatā ] – Sándor Molnár's Circles, Art+Text
Budapest Gallery, Budapest
2016 Emptiness, Vigadó Gallery, Budapest