Yolanda Mohalyi

Brazilian-Hugarian, b. 1909

With the 1st Bienal de São Paulo (1951) and the internationalization of arts in the country, gained space in Brazil the clash between figuration, with its social themes so dear to moderns, and abstractionism, which proposed a rational and universal language. It was around this debate that Yolanda began to experiment with new techniques and to simplify forms – yet, without abandoning figuration. In 1957, after a trip to Italy, where she was overwhelmed by the frescos by Piero de La Francesca at the Basilica of San Francisco, she gave up figuration all together. After returning to Brazil, her work shifted towards informalism, mostly with gouache and Chinese ink on paper.

She participated in seven editions of the Bienal de São Paulo, and two of the Tokyo Biennial. Along artists like Manabu Mabe, Iberê Camargo and Tomie Ohtake, her large dimensions abstract paintings were increasingly accepted by the Brazilian art market. In 1976, she had her first major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM SP), and, in 1982 and 1984, two exhibitions at Dan Galeria. Recently, she had retrospectives at the MON (Curitiba, Brazil), in 2008, and at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, in 2009.

Sources:
Photo: http://cultura.estadao.com.br/noticias/artes,tributo-a-pintura-de-yolanda-mohalyi-em-livro-e-exposicao,1785192
Text: http://myartguides.com/exhibitions/yolanda-mohalyi-a-grande-viagem/