Tamás Konok

 

Tamás Konok was born on 9 January 1930 and passed on 20 November 2020 in Budapest. He graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, where his master was Aurél Bernáth. He moved to Paris in 1959, and later, he also had a studio in Zurich. While maintaining his residence in Paris, he also lived and worked in Budapest beginning in the 1990s. Konok’s first solo exhibition was at the Galerie Lambert in Paris in 1960. He had his first solo museum exhibition in Stedelijk in the Netherlands in 1964; then, he showed at the Lausanne Museum in Switzerland. In 1983, Konok’s works appeared at the Geometrische Abstraktion exhibition together with those of J. Albers, F. Morellet, and F. Picabia. He collaborated with Galerie Schlégl in Switzerland and exhibited his works several times at the Basel Art-Expo. Konok had solo exhibitions at numerous important institutions in Hungary since the eighties, among them the Xantus János Museum in Győr, the Museum of Fine Arts (with his wife, artist Katalin Hetey), the Ludwig Museum, and the Ernst Museum.


Several state awards attest to the recognition of his work: he was the Knight of the National Order of the French Republic (1997), the holder of the Kossuth Prize (1998), and the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (2004). Konok’s works can be found, among others, in the collection of the Städtische Galerie in Hamburg, the Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bern, the Kunstmuseum in Winterthur, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, the Hungarian National Gallery, and the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest. His works been included in the collection of the Pompidou Centre in Paris 2024. In 2020-2021, he had a retrospective exhibition at the Ludwig Museum – Contemporary Art Museum Budapest and a solo exhibition at Ani Molnár Gallery, which resulted in the publication of a representative exhibition catalog under the title Vers l’infini. In February 2023, the Ani Molnár Gallery honored him with another solo exhibition, Architecture, to highlight his architectural interests throughout his oeuvre.


Konok’s work is rich in the influence of the international tendencies of painting that stem from 20th-century modernism and avant-garde art. The collages and monotypes of his early period rely on a surrealistic vision and visual elements going beyond reality. Manipulating thin line drawings to model structures, Konok also experimented with geometric abstraction in his mature period. Thus, his early works and nonfigurative ones where he used his own authentic style connect through the role and domination of the line. As the line scarcely appears in nature, it relates to human activity and can express the most abstract, transcendent contents. In Konok’s acrylic-canvas paintings, lines, stripes, dotted surfaces, and form fragments abstracted into signs in two dimensions tell us about the problem of plastic, that is to say, spatial representation. Thus, colors are usually not merely form fillings, nor are they elements of an optical illusion, but they are part of a line-based system.

9 January 1930 – 20 November 2020, Budapest

Studies

1940-1948

Gergely Czuczor Benedictine Grammar School, Győr

1945-1950

Music Conservatory, Győr

1948-1953

Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Painting (professor: Aurél Bernáth)

Awards, scholarships

2014

Prima Primissima Award

National Artist Award

2011

My Country Award (21st Century Society)

2010

HUNGART Lifetime Achievement Award

2009

Gundel Art Prize

Award of Kévés Studio the Association of Architects and Engineers and Artists

2008

Lifetime Achievement Award of the Hungarian Painting’s Day Foundation

2004

Hungarian Cross of  Merit, Silver Cross (for civilians)

1998

Kossuth Award

1997

Knight of the National Order of Merit

Award of the Society of Hungarian Painters

1993

Commemorative Medal for Independent Democratic Hungary

1992

Commemorative Medal for Excellent Artistic and Pedagogical Work (National Association of Hungarian Art Teachers)

1963

One-year fellowship of Huntington Hartford Foundation in New York and Pacific Palisades, California (USA)

1957

Gyula Derkovits Art Scholarship

1955

Young Artists’ Prize

Memberships

2009

Establishing the Konok-Hetey Art Foundation with sculptor Katalin Hetey, his wife

2006

Member of Széchenyi Academy of Literature and Art

2005

Founding member of Open Structures Art Society (OSAS)

1994

Honorary President of the Hungarian Association of Hungarian Art Teachers

1961

La Maison des Artistes (France)

Selected solo exhibitions

2023

Architecture, Ani Molnár Gallery, Budapest

 

2020

Line movements, Ani Molnár Gallery, Budapest

Vers L’infini, Retrospective Exhibition, Ludwig Museum, Budapest

viennacontemporary, Explorations Section, Wien

2019

Sine loco et anno, Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts, Budapest

2018

Artmark Galerie, Vienna (AT)

2017

Noir et Blanc (with Katalin Hetey), Art+Text Gallery, Budapest

Natura naturata, City Gallery, Zalaegerszeg (HU)

2016

Natura naturata, Mank Gallery, Szentendre (HU)

Ludium pigmentum, Pelikán Gallery, Székesfehérvár (HU)

2015

Konok-Hetey, City Gallery, Kalocsa (RO)

Mikroludiums, Bible Museum, Budapest

2014

Tower of Mary Magdalene, Ars Sacra, Budapest

Digital Brain Anatomy, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

2013

Ludium pigmentum, Modern Gallery – László Vass Collection, Veszprém (HU)

Microludios, Gemer-Kishont Museum, Rimavská Sobota (SK)

New photos, Community Center, Balatongyörök (HU)

Artmark Galerie, Vienna (AT)

2012

Konok-Hetey Exhibition, Zsolnay Cultural District, Pécs (HU)

Microludios II. Lutheran Museum, Budapest (HU)

Exhibition of churches, Békásmegyer, Budapest

2011

Arcis Gallery – Nádasdy Castle, Sárvár (HU)

Transcendental Spaces, Symbol Art Gallery, Budapest

Microlux, Prestige Gallery, Budapest

Visum Repertum, Semmelweis Salon, Budapest

Spanish and Contemporaries, Konok Collection, Modern Gallery – László Vass Collection, Veszprém (HU)

2010

Structure of the Thought Process, Municipal Picture Gallery – Kiscell Museum, Budapest

Ars dictandi, Klauzál 13 Gallery, Budapest

2009

Kévés Studio Gallery, Budapest

Parallel Works, European Art Couples (with Katalin Hetey) – Contemporary

Hungarian Gallery, Dunaszerdahely (SK)

Ultima realita, Aulich Art Gallery, Budapest

Transcendents, Bernáth Aurél Gallery, Ábrahámhegy (HU)

2008

50 years of Western European art. The Konok Collection – City Art Museum, Győr

2007

Al Gallery, Budapest

2006

Ernst Museum, Budapest

Italian Institute, Szeged (HU)

2005

Vízivárosi Gallery, Budapest

2004

City Museum of Art – Váczy Péter Collection, Győr (HU)

2003

Galerie d’Art Contemporary Palais d’Europe, Menton (FR)

City Art Museum – Esterházy Palace, Győr (HU)

Vadnai Gallery, Budapest

2002

Mű-Terem Gallery, Budapest

2001

King Stephen’s Museum, Székesfehérvár

Galerie Pont-Neuf, Paris (FR)

2000

VAM Gallery, Budapest

1999

House of Arts, Pécs (HU)

Kulturinstitut Ungarn, Stuttgart (D)

1998

Galerie Pro Arta, Zurich (CH)

“Mikroludium”, Rátz Studio Gallery, Budapest

Gallery Vekava, Paris (FR)

City Art Museum, Győr (HU)

1997

Institute Francais, Budapest

1995

Szombathely Gallery, Szombathely (HU)

Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest

Galerie Brügger, Bern (D)

Institut Français, Budapest

1992

Gallery “T” – Zürich (CH)

1991

Nemes Endre Museum, Pécs (HU)

Kecskemét Gallery, Kecskemét (HU)

Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Galerie Franka Berndt, Paris (FR)

1990

Galerie Graf and Schelble, Basel (CH)

City Art Museum, Győr (HU)

1985

Galerie Boisserée, Cologne (D)

Gallery E, Montreux (CH)

Ottó Herman Museum, Miskolc (HU)

Galerie Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm (SE)

Galerie Schlégl, Zurich (CH)

Arte Fiera ’86, Bologna (I)

1984

Galerie Perrig, Basel (CH)

Galerie Humana, Wil (CH)

Tihany Museum, Tihany (HU)

Műhely Gallery, Szentendre (HU)

City Gallery, Sárospatak (HU)

1983

Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (Svájc)

1981

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich (D)

1980

Galerie Koppelmann, Leverkusen (D)

Galerie Hilger & Schmeer, Duisburg (D)

Xantus János Museum, Győr (HU)

1979

Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH)

Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

1978

Galerie Philippe Fregnac, Paris (FR)

Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich (D)

Galerie Münsterberg, Basel (CH)

1977

Galerie Nouvelles Pictures, The Hague (NL)

Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam – Rotterdam (NL)

St Pierre St, Pierre, Geneva (CH)

Galerie Numago, Auvernier (CH)

Art 8’77 – Basel (CH)

1974

Art Gallery, Basel (CH)

Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

1973

Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

1972

Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

1971

Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam – Rotterdam (NL)

1969

Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa, Venice (I)

Art Museum, Austin (USA)

1968

Kunstlichting, Rotterdam (NL)

Center Culturel, Hoogeveen (NL)

1967

Galerie Läubli, Zürich (CH)

1965

Galerie Boisserée, Cologne (D)

Galerie Trapez, Krefeld (D)

1964

Haus der Begegnung, Hamburg (D)

Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam – Rotterdam (NL)

Galerie Loubin, Angoulême (FR)

1962

P. H. Gallery, Washington (USA)

Galerie du Haut Pavé, Paris (FR)

Silvan Simone Gallery, Los Angeles (USA)

1961

Galerie Lambert, Paris (FR)

1960

Galerie Lambert, Paris (FR)

1960 Club Azziza, Othmana, Tunis (TN)

Selected group exhibitions

2022

Geometrical Forms in Space, MNB Arts & Culture, Budapest

Picto/graphy:Calligraphy, Signs, Gestures and Letter images, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Abu Dhabi

Folded-Unfolded, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul


2020

SÁNDY / KONOK, Intersections / Family History Exhibition, Kunsthalle, Budapest

Konok and …, Lutheran Central Museum, Budapest

Art Market Budapest, Budapest

2019

With Tamás Vásárhelyi: Space – Tér – Motion, Deák 17 Gyermek és Ifjúsági Művészeti Galéria, Budapest

2015

Ornamentation, Várfok Gallery, Budapest

Ten years OSAS, Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Sammlung Peter C. Ruppert, Konkrete Art in Europa nach 1945, Würzburg (D)

2014

Prayers after Auschwitz, Berlin (D)

The Black, Pécs Gallery, Zsolnay Quarter, Pécs (HU)

Hagyomány és lelemény, UNESCO Székház, Paris

2013

New Collages, Vízivárosi Gallery, Budapest

Imre Ámos and the 20th Century, Rumbach Street Synagogue, Budapest

National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (IN)

2011

International Contemporary Masters, Abigail Gallery, Budapest

Ornamentation-Seriality, Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Face á face, French Institute, Budapest

2010

Contrasts, OSAS – Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Ungarn Konret, Galerie VKB, Vienna (A)

Hommage Bauhaus 90, Oradea (RO)

Hungarian Geometric Art, Cultural Center, Debrecen (HU)

Picture / poem, Visuality and Concrete, László Vass Collection, Veszprém (HU)

Five masters. Respect Martinovics, Boltíves Gallery, Budapest

2009

Coup d’oeil. Hoffmann Collection – French Institute, Budapest Atelier – OSAS – Vasarely Museum, Budapest

László Práger Collection – László Vass Collection, Veszprém (HU)

Contrasts, Concrete – Abstract, OSAS – Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Tolerance in Art. Contemporary Hungarian and Slovak Art, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava – Unovo (SK)

2008

Galerie St Johann, Saarbruecken (D)

The Art is Free, Winkler Art X-Perience, Budapest

Constructive and Concrete, Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna (A)

2007

Komart Gallery, Bratislava (SK)

Bright Color, OSAS – Vasarely Museum, Budapest

White & Black, OSAS – Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Geometrisch-Konstruktive Kunst aus Ungarn, Arithmeum, Bonn (D)

2006

Graphik und Malerei aus dem Waser Verlag, Alte Fabrik Rapperswil, Rapperswil Cabanas Museum Guadajajara, Mexico (MX)

Constructiones de la Architectura y Artes Plasticos Hungaros – Collegio de Arquitectos de Peru, Lima (PE)

Collegio de Arquitectos de Chile, Santiago (CL)

Open Structures Art Association, Vasarely Museum, Budapest

Les collections de l’institut Francaise. 20 ans de donations, French Institute, Budapest

2005

Painting and Sculpture in the Spell of Architecture, Kévés Studio Gallery, Budapest

Zeitgenössische Art. Ueli Berger, Lucia Coray, Rainer Gross, Tamás Konok, Vera Rothamel – Galerie Michael Schneider, Bonn (D)

Living Hungarian Painting – Olof Palme House, Budapest

Doyen IV, Palace of Arts, Budapest

The light is coming. Exhibition of Contemporary Hungarian Fine Arts in the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Attila József Master Gallery and Károly Eötvös County Library, Veszprém (HU)

1998

“Hommage a Kassák”, Kassák Múzeum, Budapest

“Jenseits von Kunst”, Landes Museum, Graz

“Kollázs ‘98”, Vigadó Galéria, Budapest

Kunst im Büro, Waser, Zürich

1997

ART 28 ’97 Basel

“Konszonancia”, Ferenczy Museum, Szentendre (HU)

Olaj/vászon, Kusnthalle, Budapest

“Fehér képek“, Vigadó Galéria, Budapest

Port ouvert, Fanal, Basel (CH)

1996

Ernst Museum, Budapest

“A Művészeten túl”, Ludwig Museum, Budapest

Galerie Proarte, Zürich

1991

Concrete Art Seit 1910, Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

Geometrische Abstraktion 1910–1990, Galerie Eremitage, Berlin (D)

l’Esprit constructif IV, Galerie Franka Berndt, Paris (FR)

Selection from the Szöllősi – Nagy – Nemes Collection, Art Mill, Szentendre (HU)

Doyen III. – KOGART House, Budapest

1990

Barcsay Museum, Szentendre (HU)

Center Culturel, Chauny (FR)

Concrete Art in Europe, Galerie Fischer, Lucerne (CH)

1989

Geometrie + Farbe – Galerie Arteba, Zürich (CH)

1988

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Hommage á Bartók – Vigadó Gallery, Budapest

Galerie Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm (SE)

Galerie Desluis, Leidschendam (NL)

Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

1986

Collagen – Kunsthaus, Zug (Switzerland) Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

1984

Stores Trudelhaus, Baden (A)

Art-Expo, Basel / Basel (CH)

Galerie Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm (SE)

1983

Geometrische Abstraktion – Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

Art-Expo, Basel / Basel (SE)

Respect the homeland! – Kunsthalle, Budapest

1982

Galerie Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm (Sweden) Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

Spectrum der Farbe, Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

1980

Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

“10 Jahre Galerie Schlégl”, Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

1979

Press Paris-Budapest, Palais du Luxembourg, Paris (FR)

Künstler zeigen Künstler, Galerie Schlégl, Zürich (CH)

Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

Objet de l’artiste, Galerie Numaga, Auvernier (CH)

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bern (CH)

1978

Constructivist Work of the Twenties, Gallery Carus, New York (USA)

Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

Fondation Nationale des Artistes, Paris (FR)

1977

Kunstmuseum, Winterthur (CH)

Art-Expo, Basel / Basel (CH)

1975

Galerie Isis, Paris / Paris (FR)

Art-Expo, Basel / Basel (CH)

1974

Rèalités Nouvelles, Paris / Paris (FR)

Art-Expo, Basel / Basel (CH)

1973

Bertrand Russel Centenary, Nottingham (UK)

Rèalités Nouvelles, Paris (FR)

Art-Expo, Basel (CH)

1972

Rèalités Nouvelles, Paris (FR)

Graphikmesse, Zürich (CH)

1970

Galerie Zunnini, Paris / Coupleiz (FR)

Musée Pontoise Thompson, Zürich (CH)

Salon International d’Art, Basel (CH)

1969

Galerie Jeanne Wiebenga, Lausanne (CH)

1968

Galerie Lambert, Paris (FR)

1966

Galerie Lambert, Paris (FR)

Galerie Soleil dans la Tête, Paris (FR)

1965

Requiem, Galerie Transposition, Paris / Párizs (Franciaország)

Freundschaft zwischen den Völkern, Internationale Buchkunst-Austellung, Leipzig / Lipcse (Németország)

4e Biennale des Jeunes Peintres, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris / Párizs (Franciaország)

1964

III. International Young Artists Exhibition, Tokyo (JP)

1963

Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (FR)

1962

Akademie, Leiden (NL)

1960

Csók István Gallery, Budapest

1957

Ernst Museum, Budapest

1955

Exhibition of young fine and applied artists – Ernst Museum, Budapest

VI. Hungarian Fine Arts Exhibition – Műcsarnok, Budapest

1954

ARC. Hungarian Fine Arts Exhibition, Budapest

1953

Kunsthalle, Budapest

Art fairs

2023

Art and Antique

 

2022

Art Market Budapest

Art and Antique

 

2021

Art Market Budapest
Arco Madrid

2020

viennacontemporary
Art Market Budapest 

 

Works in public collections

Le Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR)

Bálint Balassa Museum, Esztergom (HU)

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (FR)

Kortárs Magyar Galéria, Dunajská Streda (SK)

Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris (FR)

Embassy of Franca, Budapest

Ottó Herman Museum, Miskolc (HU)

Iparművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs (HU)

Kassák Memorial Museum, Budapest

Kunstmuseum, Winterthur (CH)

Dezső Laczkó Museum, Veszprém (HU)

Ludwig Musem, Budapest

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Europe Parliament, Bruxelles (BE)

Mccory collection, New York (USA)

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (la donation Jeunet), Neuchâtel (CH)

Ministère des Affaires culturelles, Paris (FR)

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bern (CH)

Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH)

Imre Patkó Collection – János Xantus Museum, Győr (HU)

Paks Gallery, Paks (HU)

Prèfecture, Cergy-Nouvelle Ville (FR)

Rákóczi Museum, Sárospatak (HU)

Städtische Sammlung, Hamburg (D)

Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam-Rotterdam (NL)

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

László Vass László Collection, Veszprém (HU)

Municipial Museum of Győr (HU)

Kecskemét Gallery, Kecskemét (HU)

Walo Bürohaus, Zurich (CH)

Waser Bürohaus, Buchs (CH)

Municipial Museum, Vác (HU)

Eigenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich (CH)

Danubiana Menlesteen Art Museum (SK)

Museum Würzburg / Samlung Perer C. Ruppert, Würzburg (D)