BELA DE KRISTO Art Deco Cubist Oil on Canvas Man Playing Guitar

Bela de Kristo was born in Hungry  1920-2006.

He studied at the Theresianum Vienna University. In 1939 he began his further studies at The Budapest School of Art. During his time as a student, Bela de Kristo was involved in many other enterprises: he designed stage settings for films and took an active role in the first cinema club in Hungry. The Newspaper of Budapest was also publishing his cartoons at the time. After graduating, Bela De Kristo moved to Paris where he organized an exhibition of Hungarian artists in 1947. Whilst he was in Paris, his home country was occupied by the Soviet army, and consequently, he decided to settle indefinitely in Paris. Whilst in Paris, Bela de Kristo regularly frequented the Academy Julian and La Grande Chaumiere. In 1948 he took part in a public exhibition at the Duncan Gallery and later in 1950 he exhibited in The Canes Exhibition at the Carlton Gallery. Four years later, in 1954 he set up a vast workshop on la Rue Vignon. His workshop became a creative hub, where one could find professionals from the press, publishing, and the art world. At the time, many of de Kristo’s drawings and cartoons appeared in Paris Match, but the majority of his time was spent focusing on painting.