After Mosonmagyaróvár, Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy), Oradea (Nagyvárad), Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) and Turda (Torda), we present our exhibition Journeys to Real and Imaginary Landscapes in Budapest, at the Képező Gallery. From Turda, Gross Arnold’s hometown, the pictures travel straight to Keleti Károly utca, one of the most important stops of the exhibition series. This neighborhood was practically Arnold’s own backyard: he lived and worked at Keleti Károly utca 10 from 1972 onward. The neighbors knew him well, and he was a familiar figure in the Mechwart-liget and in the nearby eateries and shops. The story of the glass cage he built onto the street-front terrace of his 8th-floor apartment — which the District Council of the time had demolished — even features in Mária Soós’s 1978 documentary film.
The artist spent a significant part of his life in his home at Keleti Károly utca 10 in District II, where he not only lived but also worked. His memory is evoked today by a relief placed on the wall of the building, on view since November 25, 2016.
The exhibition was assembled from the material of the ten-year-old Gross Archive, spanning Gross Arnold’s entire oeuvre from 1947 all the way to 2001: drawings, linocuts, black-and-white and color etchings, phase prints, dioramas, watercolors and oil paintings are on display. The works are accompanied by texts edited by Gross András, drawing on Emese Révész’s study.
The works of Gross Arnold (1929–2015), the Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian graphic artist and painter honored with the Artist of the Nation award, are known throughout the world; generations have grown up marveling at his minutely detailed pictures, colored with a unique technique founded on his renewal of the art of etching. On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of his birth, we present themes of the artist that span his entire oeuvre: from the family home, the sheltering scene of his childhood years in Turda, and the garden, then the visual evocation of the Turda region, we move in ever-widening circles toward the landscapes and cities of Transylvania, Hungary and abroad, and finally toward imaginary realms.
In Gross’s memory, the studio and garden of the family home in Turda take shape as a paradisiacal Garden of Eden, the undisturbed setting of the artistic work that meant life itself to him (Studio in Turda, Garden of Memories). In this singular space, the creatures of mythic imagination and the machines of the modern technical world coexist peacefully, all brought to a common denominator by the creative artistic imagination (Conversations on Friendship).
Alongside the landscape and the wonder-world of nature, Gross was fascinated from the very beginning by urban space as well. The theme of his early works is the small-town idyll (Garden City Dream, Small Town Dream), with its many strange but lovable inhabitants. It was through his travels that he stepped out of this protected milieu evoking his childhood years in Turda. First he made Budapest his home and rewrote it with his imagination (Budapest, City of Blue Dreams). And from the mid-1960s he gladly accompanied his exhibitions abroad in person.
Related Programs:
Arnoldo – A Portrait of the Graphic Artist Gross Arnold, 2024 – film screening
September 12, 2025, 4:30–6:00 p.m.
A one-hour portrait film rich in archival material, directed by Péter Pál Tóth, featuring Anna Ábrahám, Balázs Feledy, Sándor Gajzágó Jr., Gross András, Emese Révész, Erzsébet Schaffer and Imre Szemethy.
The 55-minute film is followed by an informal conversation with Gross András.
The event is free of charge, but registration is required, which you can do via the e-mail address hello@kepezo.hu
October 2, 2025, 6:00 p.m.:
Finissage –
Arnoldo – A Portrait of the Graphic Artist Gross Arnold, 2024 – film screening
Film screening and conversation with Gross András.
