Check out Hungarian artist Ildiko Morovszki-Halasz’s show inspired by culture and people of India at Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel

It was not until Ildikó Morovszki-Halász came to India in 2015 that she realised her passion for art and colours. A professional graphic designer, she began to explore India and was inspired by the varied culture and traditions. Although she has always followed art in her home country, it was only after spending a few months here that she took up the brush and began to paint. Having spent more than three years in the country, Ildikó is now presenting some of her latest work in Hyderabad — In the wake of Amrita Sher-Gil — her second last show before she moves back to Hungary in June this year. “I’ve always admired the work of Hungarian-born artist Amrita Sher Gil. During my first few weeks in India, I explored the work that she showcased here back in 1936, which was highly influenced by India and personalities like Sarojini Naidu. Inspired parallelly by her work and India, I started to paint. This show is a thematic collection of all of my years here,” says the Hungarian artist. 

The show, jointly organised by the Asian Art house and Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel, will feature 50 paintings that she created in India since 2015. In the last four years, Ildikó has created 200 paintings under different themes — poverty, bindi pointillism and dancers reciting mythological tales. Initially, Ildikó made aquarelle studies on Amrita’s most famous Indian oil paintings with an aim to create a ‘déja vu feeling’ — expressing the original atmosphere of her work but with a different technique. However, she gradually began to look for themes, as she travelled across the country — from Tamil Nadu’s temple towns to tea estates in the East. Inspired mainly by faces and people, Ildikó used her artistic skills to paint everyday life in urban and rural India. “Each journey in the country showed me new and different segments of the Indian life, culture and spiritualism. During our trips, we communicate with local people and explore their livelihood. During my last trip to Kerala, I helped fishermen pull fishing nets. I then decided that my next series will be dedicated to the fishermen of Kerala,” she shares, adding that she captures movements in photos to use them later. 

While Ildikó earlier made drawings on paper with carbon, she started to use acrylic on canvas and watercolour on paper for her work in India. “As I began travelling, I took a break from my ‘aquarelle period’, and started to paint in acrylic. It is water-based, so it dries quicker than oil. However, for themes mainly related to movements and dynamism, use acryl is not adequate. For instance, when painting a group of dancers, I use watercolour,” she adds. 

At Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel. 
April 5, 6 pm.