„If you’re ever in New York, please do drop by”

We are both from Buda, we grew up near Moszkva tér

András Böröcz - artist

In 1986, we arrived together to New York with Miklós Erdély, in connection with the Böröcz – Révész performance, the „Flea.” After moving there, I met Miklós at László Baránszky’s place. They were good friends and lived close to each other.

I didn't speak English, and it was good to meet a world-famous Hungarian scientist of my parents’ age, who was a friend of artists and a collector of their work. He showed me his fine graphic art collection, of mainly Hungary-related artists. In fact I  personally knew several of the artist with works in his collection. On the walls of his apartment, dozens of great twentieth-century paintings can be seen above the thousands of books. It turned out that Miklós personally knew several members of the European School, the Hungarian modern art group that is the most important to me. He bought the paintings directly from these artists. This artist group was co-founded in 1945 by Árpád Mezei, the father of Noémi Mezei, Miklós's first wife. It was a great experience to get to know the legendary art organizer and theorist Árpád Mezei, thanks to Miklós.

 ∴

Illustration:
András Böröcz, Miklós Erdély, Flea, 1986
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2020-07-08