born in Székesfehérvár, Hungary

 

László Fehér is one of the most prominent representatives of figurative painting in Hungary. In the mid-1970s, he created photorealist works that reflected both the bleakness of urban life and the oppressive atmosphere of dictatorship. In the early 1980s, he aligned with new painting trends, and his increasingly expressive paintings became enriched with vibrant colours.

His works continued to draw inspiration from amateur photographs found in his family archive, with childhood and a traumatic past—along with themes of personal and collective memory—remaining central to his art. Over the years, he gradually reduced the colour palette of his paintings. By the end of the decade, he produced series that relied on the interplay and juxtaposition of only two or three colours, such as pink-grey-white, yellow-black-white, and silver-white. His large-scale fields of colour and abstract picture planes featured small figures, often outlined, appearing among monumental architectural motifs and beneath memorial structures.

During this period, Fehér also created his first sculptures, known as Iron Drawings, where the outlined figures familiar from his paintings extended into physical space. In the 1990s, he further pared down his palette, working exclusively in black, white, and grey for many years before unveiling a significant series in pink at the decade’s end.

Recurring archetypal motifs—such as staircases, water, and houses—have appeared in Fehér’s works since the beginning of his career. These motifs are imbued with mystical content while retaining their everyday character and the spontaneity of fleeting moments. They simultaneously reference specific Central and Eastern European historical and social situations and evoke universal existential experiences that transcend particular contexts.

From the 2000s onwards, a photorealist approach reasserted itself in Fehér’s art. He painted monumental portrait series, some of which reflected on social realities, such as his portraits of homeless individuals. In the 2010s, he revisited his signature redrawn figures and reinterpreted his earlier motifs in a large-scale series of tondos.

In recent years, Fehér has introduced a significant series of paper-based works. His latest paintings have seen a return to the colour pink, particularly in his Memory Imprints series, which explores new layers of collective and personal memory. Subsequently, his most recent works have reintroduced yellow, albeit in an ethereal variation.

László Fehér is among the most internationally recognised Hungarian artists. He exhibited at the Venice Biennale twice (1980 and 1990), with his 1990 showcase in the Hungarian Pavilion receiving significant international acclaim. Major retrospective exhibitions of his work have been held at venues including the Neue Galerie in Graz (1988), the Barbican Centre in London (1989), the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna (1997), the Ludwig Museum in Budapest (2007), the Musée d’Art Moderne in Saint-Étienne (2011), and the Parkview Green Museum in Singapore (2017).

He was the first Eastern European artist to have his work displayed on the façade of Vienna’s Ringturm in 2012. In 2014, his pastel self-portrait became part of the world-renowned self-portrait collection at the Galleria degli Uffizi. His works can be found in numerous private and public collections both in Hungary and internationally. In 2000, he was awarded the prestigious Kossuth Prize.

​

​

EDUCATION

1971–1976    Hungarian University of Fine Arts under Lajos Szentiványi and Ignác Kokas.

​

AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS

2024    Hazám Award
2018    Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hódmezővásárhely Autumn Exhibition
2010    Tornyai Plaque at the Hódmezővásárhely Autumn Exhibition
2000    Kossuth Prize
1993    Munkácsy Mihály Prize
1990    Second Prize at the Young East European Painters Festival, Rotterdam
1987    Prize of the Jury at the 19th International Festival of Painting, Cagnes-sur-Mer

​

WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (Mumok), Vienna, Austria
Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
Lentos, Linz, Austria
Albertina, Vienna, Austria
Sammlung Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein – Vienna Insurance Group, Vienna, Austria
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Olomouc Museum of Art, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Ernest Zmeták Art Gallery, Nové Zámky, Slovakia
City Gallery, Hämeenlinna, Finland
Musée d’Art Moderne Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne, France
Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany
Galerie der Stadt Esslingen, Esslingen, Germany
Städtische Galerie, Wendlingen am Neckar, Germany
HUK Coburg, Coburg, Germany
Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Museet for Samtidskunst / The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway
Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warsaw, Poland
Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest
Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Kiscelli Museum – Municipal Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Jewish Museum, Budapest
Tragor Ignác Museum, Vác
King St. Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár
Deák Collection, Székesfehérvár
UniCredit Bank Collection, Budapest
Paks Gallery, Paks
Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs
Herman Ottó Museum, Miskolc
Déri Museum, Debrecen
Rippl-Rónai Museum, Kaposvár
Szombathely Gallery, Szombathely
Rómer Flóris Art and Historical Museum, Győr 

Békés County Library, Békéscsaba
Petőfi Literary Museum, Budapest
Antal-Lusztig Collection, MODEM, Debrecen

​

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023    Q Contemporary, Budapest (“Capturing Memory”)
Ján Koniarik Gallery, Trnava, Slovakia (“László Fehér”)
2021    Nick Gallery, Pécs (“Memory Imprints / New Works”)
2020    Hegyvidék Gallery, Budapest (“Painted Time”)
Galeria Ernesta Zmetáka in Nové Zámky, Slovakia (“Continuous Memory”) (cat.)
2019    Z Gallery, Bratislava (“Generations”)
2018    Fészek Gallery (“Memory Imprints”)
Galerie Andrea Madesta, Regensburg (“Metaphysical Spaces”)
2017    Petőfi Literary Museum, Budapest (“Móricz’s Boots”)
The Parkview Museum, Beijing (“Bridging Asia – Europe II. – with Muntean/Rosenblum, Wang Yuping”)
2016    Platán Gallery, Budapest (“Works on Paper 2013-2015”) (cat.)
Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna (cat.)
2014    Atlas Sztuki, Łódź, Poland (together with Roman Lipski) (cat.)
REÖK Palace (“László Fehér. Selection from the Victor L. Menshikoff Collection”), Szeged
2013    Kieselbach Gallery, Budapest (“László Fehér. Selection from the Victor L. Menshikoff Collection”) (cat.)
Társalgó Gallery, Budapest (“In Back-Light”) (cat.)
2012    Vienna Insurance Group, Ringturm, Vienna (“Gesellschaft” – Fifth Ringturmverhüllung)
2011    Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne (cat.)
Alföldi Gallery, Hódmezővásárhely
2010    Csók István Picture Gallery, Székesfehérvár (“László Fehér, 2007-2010”) (cat.)
2008    Galerie Orel Art, Paris (“The Story of Judit”) (cat.)
Hong Kong Arts Centre, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong (“László Fehér: Paintings 2001-2005”) (cat.)
2007    Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (retrospective) (cat.)
2005    KOGART, Budapest (cat.)
2004    Várfok Gallery, Budapest (“Faces from the Square”)
Galerie CO10, Düsseldorf
2003    Fészek Gallery, Budapest
2001    Rippl-Rónai Museum, Kaposvár
Vadnai Gallery, Budapest
L’Esplanade, Saint-Étienne (Connexion-Déconnexion)
Műcsarnok, Budapest (cat.)
Kálmán Imre Museum, Siófok
2000    Műcsarnok, Budapest (cat.)
1999    Galerie CO10, Düsseldorf (“Spuren der Erinnerung”)
1998    XO Gallery, Budapest
Holbein Haus, Augsburg
1997    Fészek Gallery, Budapest
Leiden Culturstad ‘97, Garage van de Blonkpanden Institut Hongrois, Leiden (cat.)
Galerie OZ, Paris
Galerie CO10, Düsseldorf
Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna (“Erinnerungen an Reales” – retrospective) (cat.)
1996    Levy Galerie, Hamburg
Fészek Gallery, Budapest
Galerie Zichy, Leiden (cat.)
Spiritusz Gallery, Budapest
1995    Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (“New Pictures”) (cat.)
Muzeul Național de Artă, Cluj-Napoca
1994    Leslie Sacks Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Galerie Dambier Masset, Paris (cat.)
1993    Fészek Gallery, Budapest
Budapest History Museum, Kiscelli Museum – Municipal Gallery, Budapest (retrospective)
Pécs Gallery, Pécs
Galerie Gaudens Pedit, Innsbruck
Galerie Cuenca, Ulm
1992    IFA Galerie, Stuttgart
IFA Galerie, Berlin (cat.)
1991    Galeria Synthese, Lienz
Galleria Paolo Majorana, Brescia
1990    XLIV. La Biennale di Venezia, Hungarian Pavilion, Venice (cat.)
1989    Barbican Centre, Concourse Gallery, London (cat.)
Fészek Gallery, Budapest (with Franz Pichler) (cat.)
1988    Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (cat.)
Műcsarnok, Budapest (cat.)
1986    Ifjúsági Ház, Székesfehérvár
1983    Műcsarnok, Budapest (cat.)
1980    Studio Gallery, Budapest (cat.)
1979    FÁÉV, Székesfehérvár (cat.)
1977    Cultural Centre, Kincsesbánya

​

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023    Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s-1980s, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
The Manierism of the Nomads of the 80s, Knoll Gallery, Budapest
2020    Contemporary Hungarian Top 10, Vaszary Gallery, Balatonfüred
2019    Chapter I., Art + Text, Budapest
Public Private Affairs. The Art of the ’90s in Hungarian Private Collections, ArtMill, Szentendre
Customize (Ludwig 30 – Always Contemporary), Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest
2018    Private Storage – Works/Rescues – the Gyárfás Collection, Budapest Gallery, Budapest
New Horizons of European Painting III: The Action of the Senses, Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
2017    Photo/Synthesis, Szombathely Gallery, Szombathely
Real Hungary, Collegium Hungaricum Vienna, Vienna
The Artist’s Voice, The Parkview Museum, Singapore
2016    Wasted Time, Ferenczy Museum Center, Szentendre
Ideals and Artworks. A Selection of Works from the Collection of Ludwig Museum Budapest, Albanian National Gallery of Arts, Tirana
Rustle of Angel Wings. Angels in European Art, Museum of Art Olomouc, Olomouc
2015    Siliconvalse: Hungarian Reality, The Brno House of Arts, Brno
Vacation Simulator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros
2014    Painters in the Mirror. Hungarian Self-Portraits from the Uffizi Gallery, Budapest History Museum, Budapest
The Patron’s Capital – The City Gallery of Budapest, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest
Contemporaries: Collectors and Artists – Domestic and International Works in Hungarian Private Collections 2010–2014, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest
2013    Shifts. Art After 1945, Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Mirror Dimly. Faces Yesterday and Today, Ernst Museum, Budapest
Imre Ámos: Where Is Your Brother? Works from 1942 and Contemporary Reflections from Hungary (2004–2012), CHB, Berlin
Focus Hungary 1988 – 2013, Galerie Gaudens Pedit, Kitzbühel
Painting I - Eclectic Affinities, Frissiras Museum, Athens
From Our Collection: Landscape Paintings, Kunstmuseum Bochum
2012    VOID, BWA SOKÓŁ Gallery, Nowy Sacz, Poland
Péter Nádas. In the Darkroom of Writing. Transitions between Text, Image and Thought, Kunsthaus Zug, Zug
What is Hungarian? – Contemporary Answers, Kunsthalle, Budapest
The Unicredit Collection. Painting in the Nineties, Kieselbach Gallery, Budapest
20 Years – Hungary Reloaded, Galerie Gaudens Pedit, Lienz
From Titian to Warhol, Olomouc Museum of Art, Olomouc
2011    A Visit, Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti di Torino, Torino
Hungarian Art, NAMOC, Beijing
East of Eden. Photorealism: Versions of Reality, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest
Quotations from Four Decades Gallery, Galerie Schrade, Karlsruhe
2010    Cities on the River, Városi Képtár, Győr; Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna; Slovak Union of Visual Arts, Bratislava; MKM Austrian Cultural Forum, Belgrade; Cultural Center of Novi Sad, Novi Sad
Olomouc Central European Forum III: Hungary, Olomouc Museum of Art, Olomouc Unmistakable Sentences. The Collection Revisited, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest
2009    Accent Hungary, Hungarian Art from the Collection of Neue Galerie Graz, Neue Galerie, Graz
Creating Freedom: From Post-Revolutionary to Post-Communist Art in Hungary, Selection of Forty Years of Hungarian Art from Nancy G. Brinker Collection, Boston University, Sherman Gallery, Boston, USA
2008    Works of Passion, The Nancy G. Brinker Collection of Hungarian Art, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, USA
2007    Expressionistic Tendencies in Hungarian Contemporary Art 1980-2007, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Cunovo
Works of Passion, The Nancy G. Brinker Collection of Hungarian Art, The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, Ohio, USA
2006    Current Art from Hungary, Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum Foundation, Ulm
2005    Hungarian Artists: An Exhibition of Passion, Interludes and Progress, Lighthouse Center for the Arts, Tequesta, Florida, USA
2004    Passage Europe, Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne
2003    Hungary Unplugged, Cotthem Gallery, Brussels
2002    Situation Hungary – Art Before and After the Change, Stiftung “Brandenburger Tor” at Max Liebermann House, Berlin
9×9, Municipal Museum, Leiden
2001    Re-conciliations, Fifteen Contemporary Hungarian Artists, Espace Commines, Paris; Salon de l’Hôtel de Ville, Bobigny
Dialogue, Painting, Sculpture, Kunsthalle, Budapest
Zeitbrücke, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Passau
Slow Remarks, Sint-Jorispond Center Elzenveld, Antwerp
2000    The Other Half of Europe, National Gallery of Jeu de Paume, Paris
1999    Hungary 2000, Gallery of Artists, Munich
Hungary 1999 Now — Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Bochum; Gallery of the City of Fellbach and City Hall Foyer, Fellbach
Aspects/Positions 50 Years of Art from Central Europe 1949—1999, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Wien, Palais Liechtenstein, 20er Haus, Vienna
1998    Hungarian Spring 1848—1849, Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warsaw
Sensitivities, European Academy for the Arts, London
Avant-garde in the 20th Century, New Gallery of the City Linz, Linz
1997    Myth, Memory, History, Städtische Galerie, Galerie an der Brücke, Galerie Gaudens Pedit, Lienz
Dialogues of the Shadow, Espace Electra, Paris
1996    Myth, Memory, History, Budapest History Museum – City Gallery, Kiscelli Museum, Budapest
Individual Lives, Palazzo Reale, Arengario, Milan
1994    Commentaries on Europe, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna
1993    Confrontations, New Acquisitions 1990—1993, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna
Hungary: Before and After, IMF Visitors’ Center, Washington DC
1992    Hungarica — Hungarian Art of the 80s and its Origins, Museum of Modern Art, Bolzano; Palazzo Braschi, Rome
Hungary, Time, Art, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Gallery of the Bavarian State Bank, Munich
Time and Tide, E. A. U. Co. Ltd. Tokyo
1991    Time Jumps — Artworks in Dialogue, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz
Pools, Stuart Levy Gallery, New York
Positions — Hungarian Art of the 90s, Künstlerwerkstatt, Munich; Kennesaw State College, Marietta, Georgia
Art Europe, Kunsthalle, Bremen
Free Zone, Taidehalli, Helsinki; Kunsthalle, Budapest
Free Worlds – Metaphors and Realities in Contemporary Hungarian Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal
1990    IFA Gallery, Bonn
Hungarian Contemporary Art, Stuart Levy Gallery, New York
13 Artists from Hungary, Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warsaw
Festival of Young Artists of Eastern Europe, Rotterdam
Signs in the Flow, Museum of Modern Art, Vienna
Hungarian Avant-garde in the Painting of the 80s, City Hall, Fellbach; Musée St. Pierre, Lyon
Artistic Confrontations, City Hall of Old Town, Torun
Budapest Contemporary Hungarian Art in Dublin, RHH, Gallegher Gallery, Dublin
Hungarian Modern Art, Seoul Art Center and Museum, Seoul
1989    Art Today in Hungary, New Gallery of the City, Linz, New Gallery-Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen
Hungarian Avant-garde of the Eighties, Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul; Kunstverein, Mannheim; Stadtmuseum, Oldenburg
Art of the Last Ten Years, Museum of Modern Art, Vienna
Budapest Belvedere, Kampnagelfabrik KX, Hamburg
1988    Connections – Fonticolli, Fraterno, Soós, Fehér, Vigadó Gallery, Budapest; Arti et Amitiae, Amsterdam
1987    New Sensitivity, Hungarian Painting of the 80s, Gallery of the City of Esslingen, Villa Merkel
Imre Bak, Gábor Bachman, Ákos Birkás, László Fehér, Károly Kelemen, Attila Kovács, László Rajk, András Wahorn, ELAC, Art Contemporain, Lyon
Hungarian Myths, Landeskulturzentrum Ursulienhof, Linz; 19th Festival International de la Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer
1986    Eklektika ‘85, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
International Impact Art Festival, City Art Gallery, Kyoto
1985    Three Generations of Hungarian Painters, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz
1982    Hungarian Contemporary Art, Musée Cantini, Marseille; Palais d’Europe, Menton; Palais Conservatoire, Lyon; Salon Régain, Clermont-Ferrand; Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris
1980    XXXIX. La Biennale di Venezia, Hungarian Pavilion, Venice
Studio ‘80, Kunsthalle, Budapest
1977    Annual Exhibition of the Studio of Young Artists, Csók István Gallery, Székesfehérvár