Márta Lacza (December 2, 1946 – August 23, 2025) was a Hungarian graphic artist and portrait painter.
Early life and education She was born in the Csepel district of Budapest in 1946. In 1967, she graduated from Fine Arts High School and then studied from 1970 to 1974 at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts under Simon Sarkantyú and Károly Raszler. Since then, she has had numerous solo exhibitions at home and abroad, and her works have been shown in London, Hamburg, Eindhoven, Ghent, Copenhagen and Athens.
Scholarship She was awarded a Derkovits Scholarship (1980–1983) and won the Munkácsy Prize in 1983. A 40-minute television programme about her, titled A Tv galériája. Lacza Márta grafikusművész (The TV gallery. Lacza Martha graphic artist), was broadcast on Magyar Televízió, the Hungarian national public broadcaster, in March 1982.
She took part in the first "Frans Masereel Rijkscentrum voor graphite" international graphic artists' colony in Belgium, and was called back every year for fourteen years. She also participated in the work of Atelier Nord in Norway.
Career She is known for her oil paintings, drawings in pencil or chalk, etchings and illustrations for many books. Her work is described as combining mood, thought creativity and personal vision with "unmatched skill and preparedness coupled with outstanding craftmanship". Her paintings show "mysterious, sometimes almost bizarre figures" that "provoke emotion from observers."
Her illustrations have been published in a number of books, including the Hungarian translation of the Anne of Green Gables series of children's books by Lucy Maud Montgomery translated by Katalin Szűr-Szabó, and books of Hungarian folktales such as The Silver King's Flute by Zsigmond Móricz, and The Tree That Reached the Sky. She and her husband also illustrated academic volumes such as Hajdú-Bihar megye 10-11. századi sírleletei, and The late neolithic of the Tisza region (1987).
Her autobiography, Élet és Művészet (Life and Art), was published in Budapest in 2007.
She and her husband, artist Dékány Ágoston (died 28 August 2015) first met in 1963 and both studied at the Budapest Fine Arts High School. They married in 1975, and lived and worked in the Csepel district of Budapest. Lacza died of natural causes at the age of 78 on August 23, 2025, in Budapest, Hungary.
Solo exhibitions Her solo exhibitions include: 1975 Joseph Municipal Culture House, Budapest 1976 Purple School, New Palace, Budapest 1978 Studio Gallery, Budapest 1979 Pesterzsébeti Museum, Budapest 1980 Chili Gallery, Budapest 1981 Theatre Gallery, Budapest 1982 TV Gallery, Budapest; Culture House, Siófok; Turnhout, Belgium 1983 Bastion Gallery, Budapest; Fórum Szálloda; Galerie Mensch, Hamburg 1984 Miskolc; Fórum Galéria, Budapest 1985 Turnhout, Belgium 1990 Elizabeth City Gallery, Budapest 1995 Color Games
Works Works acquired by the Janus Pannonius Múzeum: Négy évszak, pen/ink on paper, 275 × 402 mm Tópart, 1978, lithography on paper, 475 × 570 mm Belső udvar, pencil on paper, 312 × 440 mm Arcuk egy-egy kis külváros, 1980, p. szín. cer, 370 × 545 mm Információ, pencil on paper, 370 × 550 mm Szólíthatom Jánosnak? , pencil on paper, 395 × 550 mm Pára, pencil on paper, 385 × 545 mm Félsziget, 1984, pencil on paper, 340 × 510 mm Túlsó part, pencil on paper, 280 × 395 mm
Other works include:
Autóbusz Félnyolc Gyere be Gyógygödör Gyógyvíz Mester
Madarak Merengő Katyiba Piac Szőrmekereskedő Tükör
Habok Najádok Harmadosztály (1985) Ködös történetek (1986) Küszöb (1988) Ginkgo biloba (1992)
References