András Szunyoghy: Anatomy

With decades of work under his belt, graphic artist András Szunyoghy has become a unique and respected figure in Hungarian and international visual culture. His career grew out of classical fine art traditions, but his oeuvre goes far beyond them: his art lies at the intersection of past and present, science and art, autonomous and applied graphics, craftsmanship and thought. His works build bridges between the past and the present, art and science, technical craftsmanship and vision, applied and autonomous art.

The exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of Szunyoghy's multifaceted career, showcasing his mastery of copperplate and linocut techniques, his works based on anatomical representations of the human and animal body, and the teaching aids and drawings that form an integral part of his work as a teacher and book publisher.

Szunyoghy owes his international renown primarily to his books on anatomy, which have provided generations with a foundation for learning observational drawing and anatomical thinking. His works have been translated into more than twenty languages – including not only the major world languages, but also Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Romanian, and Lithuanian – and are still in use today from Mexico to Japan, Canada to China.

Our exhibition traces some of the key features of his consistent and rich career through the complementary fields and tools of reproductive graphics, anatomical representation, drawing pedagogy, and popularization. The works, objects, and books on display reveal not only layers of technical knowledge and visual thinking, but also a unique consistency of approach.

Although his oeuvre is unified and well thought out, it is by no means complete. András Szunyoghy is still actively working on new books and projects, with the same rigorous attention and discipline that can be seen in every piece of the exhibited material.