Description

A signed limited print may be available of this piece! (click here)

Dad painted this simple watercolor in 1948. Created in Hungary, it is of a neighbor posing with her newborn child, but I feel there is a more profound perspective to this work that pervades all of Dad’s creations.

Mom and Dad also married in 1948 in their small birth village of Besenyod, Hungary. Dad was 26, Mom was 21, and they would have their first child, my sister Julia, about one year later.

Dad just graduated from the Budapest Royal Academy of Fine Arts (1943-1948) and began working with artist Istvan Szonyi in the master’s studio. Mom was still finishing her education, leading to her future career as an elementary school teacher.

I can only imagine the love, sparkle, and promise swirling in their hearts at the time of this painting – just married, wanting to start a family, their future looking bright. But unknown to them, then, they would journey far from their humble beginnings.

They remained with each other for the next 60 years until Mom’s passing in 2007. Along the way, on their long voyage, they left their birth country and everything behind, became American citizens, rebuilt their lives, and gave life to three children, me being their final creation.

After Mom passed, Dad moved in with us and continued his art journey. He shared things I never knew that reshaped my perspective of him and his many varied art creations. These were things that I never understood about him, and his art and learning of them filled a gap that had existed within me for years.

Revelations
Dad shared his deep admiration for Mom and women in general. He felt women were closer to the innate harmony of nature, more faithful to elements he had high regard for, the stuff he always sought to embody in his art.

He shared these feelings with me during our many private moments together, and I was impressed because while my father was no saint, and he was every bit a flawed man, he could see beyond his acquired perspectives. He was more than his physical self, and I wanted to be more like him – in every way.

Every so often, we learn of a person's innermost feelings, and it can change our view of them and all they do.

My eyes opened, and I could see the uniformity and romance in Dad and his art. Finally, the common thread. Harmony between his flowers, people, buildings, bridges, boats, and the sun invaded my vision. Embedded in everything he created, I saw a love of nature and his admiration for women. Of course, as in life, there are opposing, even tragic, forces in Dad's art message. Nevertheless, truth and harmony are in everything – paintings, drawings, woodcuts – all of it!

So, when I look at this painting, I feel the entire Universe of creation and the timeless, life-giving love Dad knew exists within mothers.

Nursing Mother is a simple painting, but one with a big message. It speaks to the nurturing start of life and the importance of mothers in that process. Moreover, it carries a message that embodies all of Dad’s art – the hope and beauty of creation itself – who indeed is a Nursing Mother to us all.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Through My Father's Eyes