Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.


Erno Szegedi artist

Erno Szegedi was born in Hungary on 5 April 1933. He lost his right hand as a child but he studied at Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts 1953-1956, under Kisfaludi Zsigmond Strobl (1884-1975). On the civil uprising in his home country in 1956, he immigrated to England and graduated from London's Royal College of Art. A sculptor who made nearly 70 busts and several life sized sculptures of children, his works regularly featured at the Royal Academy's summer exhibitions 1963-1980.

Born: 1933 Okány, Hungary

Died: 1988 Crowfield, Suffolk, England

Year of Migration to the UK: 1956

Other name/s: Szegedi Ernő, Ernő Szegedi


Biography

Sculptor Erno Szegedi was born in the village of Okány, Hungary, on 5 April 1933. His childhood was marked by the upheavals of the Second World War. As a young boy, he lost his right arm in a wartime explosion, but adapted by mastering the use of his left hand. Despite this trauma, he pursued an education in the arts, demonstrating determination and talent that defied his disability. In 1953, he enrolled at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts (Magyar Képzőművészeti Főiskola) in Budapest, studying under Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl, then the most prominent Hungarian sculptor. At the Academy, Szegedi developed a strong foundation in academic and figurative art. In the same period, Hungary’s turbulent political climate profoundly impacted his career. During the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Szegedi created a full-length commemorative sculpture in honour of fellow students who had fallen in the uprising (Ikon website). Following the Soviet suppression of the revolution, he fled Hungary in late 1956, immigrating to England as part of the wave of Hungarian refugees. Assisted by the Red Cross in his resettlement, he formed a lasting friendship with the Graham family, whom he later portrayed in sculpture. He continued to refine his artistic education in exile, first at Farnham School of Art in Surrey, then at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London, where he studied under Bernard Meadows, a former assistant to Henry Moore, completing his diploma in sculpture. This period exposed him to new artistic influences and the broader currents of European art, while also allowing him to adapt his traditional Hungarian training to a Western European context. Reamining in England, Szegedi became a British citizen in 1969.

By the early 1960s, Szegedi had established himself as a working sculptor. He worked primarily in bronze, producing a significant number of portrait busts, but also experimented in other media, including a stone head of his first wife, Maria Gibson. His first commissions came even before he had completed his studies, including a portrait for Simon Mirman, milliner to Princess Margaret, and small sculptures for textile magnate, Nicolas Sekers, who began collecting his work. A major patron was Franz Kobler, owner of the Grand Metropolitan Hotel group, who commissioned a series of large-scale works. Szegedi became known for his ability to capture likenesses with precision, producing portraits of individuals including James Cubitt, and the actor, Sándor Elés, as well as family members, including his father (1966), his mother Nagymama, his stepsons from Maria Gibson’s first marriage, and his son, Gábor Matthew (1986). He also modelled members of the Sitwell family, the Grahams and their grandchildren, and the Duchess of Bedford’s granddaughters.

Szegedi's artistic style remained largely figurative at a time when contemporary art trends were shifting. He gained recognition in the British art world through frequent participation in group exhibitions, showing at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition regularly between 1963 and 1980. Following the 1964 exhibition, some of his sculptures were borrowed by the Royal Scottish Art Society in Edinburgh. He also exhibited at the Redfern Gallery and Alwin Gallery in London, and in Woking, Surrey, where the Duchess of Bedford attended the opening and commissioned him to sculpt her granddaughters. In 1965, he held a solo exhibition of bronze sculptures at the Daedalus Gallery, Surrey. Family recollections suggest that he may also have worked on a mural for Shell headquarters in the Netherlands, and that he spent some time in Canada, where sculpture attracted greater interest among patrons than in England (Matt Szegedi correspondence). He maintained friendships with fellow Hungarian émigré artists, including illustrator László Ács in England, and kept connections with Mihály Mészáros, a successful sculptor in Budapest.

Living in the English countryside later in life, with his home and studio in The Old School House in Crowfield, Suffolk, Szegedi continued to produce art and pursued hands-on creative projects beyond sculpture. Despite his physical limitations, he built a small sailing yacht, demonstrating the same resourcefulness and determination that defined his sculptural practice. While sailing in the English Channel, Szegedi’s yacht capsised in rough conditions and he drowned on 16 February 1988. In accordance with his wishes, his body was returned to Hungary for burial.

Szegedi’s work is not currently represented in UK public collections. In 2018, the exhibition Emigráns magyar művészek az 1956-os Forradalomról (Hungarian Émigré Artists of the 1956 Revolution), curated by György Sümegi and held at Műcsarnok – Kunsthalle Budapest, showcased works by Hungarian artists in exile who depicted the revolution’s events and figures, with Szegedi included in the curatorial research as one of the artists who created related artworks, though his pieces were not included in the display. Among the artists featured were Victor Ambrus and György Gordon, both of whom also immigrated to England.

Related books

  • ‘Lifebelt’, Saffron Walden Weekly News, 23 March 1989, p. 28
  • ‘Mr. Tony Gaunt’, Surrey Advertiser, 13 February 1965, p. 17

Related organisations

  • Farnham School of Art (student)
  • Hungarian University of Fine Arts (student)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (exhibitor)
  • Royal College of Art (student)

Related web links

Selected exhibitions

  • Royal Academy of Arts (1980, 1971, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963)
  • Bronze Sculptures by Erno Szegedi, Daedalus Gallery, Surrey (1965)