NÁDLER, István
Painter
(Visegrád,29th November, 1938 – )
1958–1963: College of Fine Arts, Budapest, Masters: Hincz Gyula. He traveled on a study tour to Europe in 1964, at the invitation of the Károlyi-alapítvány (foundation) of Vence (FR); 1972: The scholarship of the Folkwang Museum, in Essen (Federal Republic of Germany). Between 1975 and 1979 he studied at the Budapest Műhely. 1995: Rome and Florence; 1996: Lisabon; 1986: Munkácsy Award; 1997: Meritorious Artist Award; 2001: Kossuth Award. He lives in Budapest and Feketebács. Nádler was one of the founders of the neo-avant-garde movement which began in Hungary in the 1960’s, he was a member of the Iparterv-csoport /Industrial Design Group/ as well as the Budapesti Műhely. His paintings were connected to both the Hungarian Constructivist Avant-garde movement of Kassák, as well as the global neo-avant-garde of the era. In accordance with the style he finished the strictly structural hard-edge school, the use of stylized folk elements played and important part in the geometrical period of his painting career. Motifs such as that of forest litter, as well as different colors gained important roles in his works. At the beginning of the 1980’s he turned back to the lyrically sensual, looser painting typical of him at the beginning of his career. The landscape and music of the 1970’s had a huge influence upon his painting. He was able to come closer to the forms and styles of folk culture through the music of Bartók, and found the creative attitude of the archaic man. Steve Reich, and the minimalist music produced by him gave him the opportunity of producing spontaneous, free-paint compositions. During this period his palettes became lighter, white and light yellow became the dominant colors on his canvases. The art-historic motif, the cross of Malevics, played an important part in the art of Nádler, which is related to the geometrical forms found in his previous works; he kept this sign –like form in even his later works. Having reorganized and rethought the geometric structure of his works, he inserted these new geometric elements into his lyrical new style of painting. The form of expression continuously changed, even when a stricter sense of geometry entered his paintings around the end of the 1970’s. The form dedicated to Malevics constituted an emblem of self-realization, which served as a connecting point to universal art, as well as a ‘self-myth’ symbol, continuously referring back to his Niké of 1963. Nádler played an important part in the new painting movement of the 1980’s, similarly to his neo-avant-garde contemporaries. It is considered a unique Hungarian feature that the ambitions of the movement of young painters were connected to those of their predecessors. Landscapes constituted an inspiring and influential element in the work of Nádler in this period. His repeated trip to Italy during the 1990’s enriched his works with new colors, and forms, which may be noticed in his series of Rome and Florence. During the course of the second half of the 1990’s his sensual painting moved towards geometric representation once again. He prepared a number of graphic works as well as sculptures.
(Translation: Vladimir Végh)