Margit Anna (born Margit Sichermann; 23 December 1913 – 3 June 1991) was a twentieth century Hungarian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Her artwork was considered

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

, utilizing bold colors and textures along with influences of

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

. Her largest influences were her own identity, particularly after her husband's death during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as well as humankind's exposure to tragedy throughout history. During the Communist rule of Hungary, she was barred from participating in the art world, but she began to paint again in the mid-1960s. Her pictures symbolized suppressed tragedy such as ''Pleasure Ride'' (1967) and ''Innocence Tale'' (1964), with surreal and expressive metamorphoses of the puppet motif.

Early life

Margit Sichermann was born on 23 December 1913 to a Jewish family from Borota, located in the

Jánoshalma District Jánoshalma () is a district in southern part of Bács-Kiskun County. ''Jánoshalma'' is also the name of the town where the district seat is found. The district is located in the Southern Great Plain Statistical Region. Geography Jánoshalma D ...

of Bács-Kiskun county. She attended the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1936 as a pupil of János Vaszary; her first exhibition was arranged with her husband, Imre Ámos, who was also an artist. After finishing school, she moved from

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Szentendre Szentendre, also known as Saint Andrew is a riverside town in Pest County, Hungary, between the capital city Budapest and Pilis Mountains, Pilis-Visegrád Mountains. The town is known for its museums (most notably the :hu: Szentendrei Szabadtéri ...

and continued to create artwork. While visiting

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1937 with her husband, she met

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

, who influenced both her artwork greatly upon her return to Hungary. Her early period was similar to Ámos's art, characterized by lyric presentation and grotesque elements. Her work was mostly figurative, featuring self-portraits, but has the foundations of later expressionism through the use of bold, blocked colours and expressive brushstrokes.

World War II

Anna and her husband Imre lived relatively peacefully until

. After being called to the battlefield, Imre was killed in Ohrdruf, a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

in 1944. Her father wwas murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. Widowed, Anna's art was greatly impacted by the loss of her husband, her paintings becoming notably harsher and more elemental than her earlier works. Her work embraced a new motif after his death, using puppet-like figures throughout her paintings. These puppets often interacted with various tragedies of humankind, such as the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, through surrealist images. She also created a number of self-portraits depicting herself in different scenarios, experimenting with her self-image and her place in the world. Her status as a Jewish widow in poverty led her to depict her differences through her art and to subvert them with her self-portraits as well, depicting herself in positions such as a dancer, prostitute, and circus performer. Her work became much more expressive and abstract, utilizing layers of paint and distorting the human figure. Through the encouragement of the art community in Szentendre, particularly Lajos Vajda and Dezsö Korniss, Anna began to expand on her work and incorporated traditional Hungarian folklore motif and symbols. She co-founded the Hungarian European School in 1945, and exhibited her work in their galleries regularly.

Communist rule in Hungary

During Communist rule, Anna and her artwork became classified as "forbidden" under the "Three T" rule implemented throughout the country. This category led to her work being banned from exhibition, leaving her unable to exhibit her art until 1968. This was due to the subversive nature of her work, which depicted women as witches, covered religious themes, and provided a connection to traditional Hungarian folklore and art. During this time, she survived on selling occasional commission pieces to private clients.

Death and commemoration

Anna's final paintings returned to the topic of self-portraiture. She depicted herself in old age, with her body growing frailer, returning to her concepts of identity. These self-portraits were the last paintings she created before her death on 3 June 1991, at age 77. Her first full postumous exhibition ''When Dolls Speak Retrospective Exhibition of Margit Anna (1913–1991)'' was held in 2024 at the

Hungarian National Gallery The Hungarian National Gallery (also known as Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, ), was established in 1957 as the national art museum. It is located in Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. Its collections cover Hungarian art in all genres, including the w ...

Works

Gallery of Anna's works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna, Margit 1913 births 1991 deaths Jewish women painters Jewish Hungarian painters 20th-century Hungarian painters 20th-century Hungarian women painters