Description

To most New York City residents, the city is just a bunch of buildings, cars, crowds, and the occasional blaring siren - but for Dad, New York was different.

When our family arrived in the United States in 1956, escaping Soviet Communism in Hungary, Dad was already a formally trained artist. He graduated from the Budapest Royal Academy of Fine Arts (1943-1948) and was working with Hungarian master Szõnyi István. But when the revolt against Soviet Communism began, Mom and Dad set out to start their lives over - leaving everything behind. That story of escape is told in "The Moon and The Star".

So when Dad arrived in New York City, his artistic perspectives were excited. What he saw was humanity at a different level. He saw people at all economic levels, up close, living amid incredible creations - buildings, bridges, waterways. And those creations were as alive as the people themselves. And Central Park was an extraordinary oasis, planted right in the middle of it all, adding even more contrasts. Overall, he saw and felt in the city contrasts of size, beauty, colors, and shapes - moments of happiness, love, sadness, and misery.

And on this day, in 1965, Dad saw, felt, and reflected upon the beauty of The Bethesda Fountain, in beautiful Central Park. It's a spot Dad would revisit repeatedly, creating more versions of this exact view - until 2005.

So take a step back in time, and visit it all again through the eyes and heart of my father, Laszlo Tar, and The Fountain. ❤️

Through My Father's Eyes