Lajos Pick was born in one of the wealthiest Jewish-Hungarian families in Hungary on the 8th of June 1884. The family Pick was the owner – beyond other businesses – the most famous Hungarian Pick Sausage Factory established by Márk Pick in 1869 which became a market leading company in 1883 assisted by Italian workers and it has remained the most reputed sausage producer in the country ever since.

The father had great plans for the son, which defined the path to tread in his education; despite his young age, he could write and read fluently in four languages. Having passed theMatura – the final examination at high school – he started studying law in Budapest and Vienna. He was an excellent student. He was living the much-envied happy-go-lucky life of young men but unexpectedly a spark lit a fire. In Budapest he became familiar with the worldview of the greatest plein air artists who exhibited their pieces of work at the large neo-classical Budapest Palace of Art – then a new hall of art built in 1896. Their way of looking at the world influenced the young Pick’s emotions and he started to spend his time on lectures of art history. He regularly attended the lectures of Gyula Pasteiner (1846 –1924), Bernát Alexander (1850–1927) Gusztáv Heinrich (1845–1922). A new world opened for him. His beginning obsession brought about the first conflicts with his father. He was sent to Germany to complete his studies at Humboldt-Universität, the greatest and oldest university in Berlin. His father intention was to direct the son back to the glorious course that had been set for him as a worthy heir to the family fortune. However, his stay in Berlin did not fulfil his father’s expectation and events took a different turn. The German metropolis changed the young man’s life. The intellectual milieu rich in impulses was like adding fuel to the flames; the young Pick’s passion was unquenchable. In Berlin he attended the lectures of du Bois-Reymond andHeinrich Wölflin (1864–1945) Swiss art Historian and lectures of other artists.

At the university library he read a lot by Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov and he had the opportunity to visit international exhibitions, which decisively directed him towards art. He felt upset as he was attracted to sculpture but his wish to create work of art had not been fulfilled. He decided to become a sculptor. He returned home to announce his decision to his father who would not share his enthusiasm. He was made to move back to his father’shouse and was prohibited from art. Two bitter years had passed by, yet he promised his motherthat he would not go against his father’s will, and he finished his university studies. In 1907 he obtained his degree at the faculty of law but as the day of the graduation ceremony was approaching he secretly left the family home and – and with the recommendation of a remote relative of his – he met the sculptor Eduard Telcs (Ede Teltsch, 1872– 1948), who was amazed by his fascination. He recognised how similar their fate was and he accepted Pick as an apprentice. However, the young Pick had to pay an enormous price for this; his father disinherited him and forbade him to return to the family house.

Eduard Telcs studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with scholarship and sponsorship of the freemason lodge that also ensured him membership because of his outstanding artistic talents. Then he continued his studies at the school of the Kaspar Clemens Eduard von Zumbusch (1830–1915) who was the most reputed sculptor in Vienna. Telcs was awarded as early as in his first year of his studies for his work Die zwei Durstigen ‘Two Thirsty Drinkers’ which later won a silver medal at an exhibition in Antwerp. Pick’s characteristic style developed during the two years that he spent at the atelier of Telcs and he learnt a lot from him. As Petri writes: “He [Telcs] taught me to respect art, to despise the inferior devices meant for effect and to recognise the worthlessness of kitsch” – and he adds as his confession as artist - “What I learnt form him is that the artist shall be honest regarding his emotions and trustworthy when he creates a piece of art. Beside these it is indifferent what we will call conservatism or modernism or whatever movement. The question is how much an artist has got to say and to what extent he is able to express it” (1960 brochure of the National Salon, p. 6).
In October 1909 after a mysterious encounter, he changed his name to Lajos Petri and moved to Belgium so that he could establish his own atelier in Brussels and so that he could introduce himself in an international milieu. In Brussels at the height of the history of Belgian sculpture, he himself influenced several artists. He made acquaintance with Jules Lagae (1862–1931) and Egide Rombeaux (1865–1942) who frequently visited him in his atelier. In one of his letters he describes his style in the following way:

They [Lagae and Rombeaux] and told us their stories, which were always interesting, in an excellent manner. Only the Belgians are giants: It was Rik Wouters who spotted the way of development and brought us the drama and lyricism in his own rendering, demonstrating that the use of every technical skill is justified only when it serves the greater accuracy and better understanding. During the course ofmy journeys that I’ve taken recently, I’ve drawn a line, which is as sharp as never before, between art and technique; the artist’s message and expression. I banish anything that is only technique, a new fashion, even if these offer a witty solution. The emphasis of the form for its own sake will go hand in hand with the weakening of the message. All this is clear looking at my portraits that represent a significant part of my sculptures.

Sculptures of my earlier years show that form enjoys priority to the disadvantage of the drama and emotionality. It was only the liberation of the later years that brought the perfection and completeness of emotionality, when form started to bear only a secondary meaning. I recognised that due to the sophisticated elaboration, the strength of expression will weaken and I tend to lose my capability of making the dynamics of the sculpture perceptible and the spontaneity of the message is gone, although spontaneity is the best device to achieve effect. The esprit of a message will have an increased effect when we deliver it spontaneously. This is why Michelangelo called portrait the peak of all arts. And that is the reason why by the time the portrait is ready, a deep relationship will have developed between the artist and the model inspiring the artist” (1960 brochure of the National Salon, p. 8).

He spent the following twelve years of his career in Belgium, where he was regarded as a significant sculptor famous for his portraits. His style of figurative sculpture started to evolve here. He made the following sculptures is Belgium: Runner at the starting line, Life andDancing girl (1911) – this latter can be considered as an utmost modern sculptor in its time.

World War I had a big impact on his life, as on all artists’ lives, and forced him, as manyof his colleagues to have a pause. Then in 1922, he participated in a group exhibition in Stockholm; this was followed by an individual exhibition in Ernst Museum in Budapest.

Finally, he moved back to Hungary, which proved to be a bad decision, as the atmosphere was becoming more and more anti-Semitic. Petri, although he was a successful sculptor at international level, was not really accepted in his home country because of his Jewish origin. During the period between 1925–1940, almost his entire time was consumed by submitting his applications to calls announced by the state. This epoch was a bitter experience for him as his applications requiring plenty moths of work were in most of the cases rejected by the political establishment. In his youth, his father had disinherited him and now his was rejected by the big politics. It may be supposed that the pain he felt also caused him to express what he felt by creating the sculpture Jacob and the Angel in 1935.

The year 1935 brought the recognition that he had been longing for as he received the greatest order from the Hungarian state, a monumental statue, a hussar on horseback. This mo nument is considered as one the greatest examples o f statues in classical st yl e commemorating historical events. Following this he received several orders from the state yet World War II interrupted this new, successful period of his career. During the disasters of the war one of his friends, Zoltán Kodály, who was an internationally acknowledged Hungarian composer and then the president of the Hungarian Academy of Science, helped him in survivingthe unhuman era. After the war Kodály, who also played a leading role of rebuilding the cultural life in Hungary, also referred to Petri’s worldview, skills and experiences that he had gained abroad. Petri’s spirit was not broken, and finally after the war he began to receive many orders from the state. He also proved to be very productive in other fields, he held lectures on art: The conflict of art and the public, The role of art criticism and beauty in the new art and The real face of Michelangelo. He also started to publish his studies: From clay to marble, Depicting sport in Art and About Monumentality. His reputation did not fade in Belgium, a long article was written about him in the Brussels literary magazine Le Musée du Soir, and he had the pleasure to have an exhibition once more in Brussels in 1959. His entire career was introduced at a comprehensive exhibition at the Nemzeti Szalon in Budapest in 1960 and then in the same year at the Hall of Art (in Hungarian Műcsarnok) in Budapest. At the end of his career lasting for half a century he returned to Szeged, his hometown situated on the riverbanks of the Tisza. Here he had a last exhibition at the Móra Ferenc Museum; no family member of his attended this exhibition.

He died at his atelier on the 25th of August 1963. His art played an outstanding role in the Hungarian and European sculpture. Today Lajos Petri-Pick’s sculptures are exhibited at the Hungarian National Gallery.

Exhibitions

Individual exhibitions:

•  1922: Ernst Museum, Budapest

•  1960: Nemzeti Szalon, Budapest

•  1960: Hall of Art ‘Műcsarnok’in Budapest

An exhibition in his hometown:

• 1963: in the city of Szeged (Hungary)

Selected works at group exhibitions

•  1922: Konstakademien, Ungerske Konstutställningen, Stockholm

•  1928: Hungarian Exhibition, Rome

•  1940: Spring Exhibition at the Hall of Art ‘Műcsarnok’, Budapest

•  1959: Exhibition in Brussels

Sculptures in public gallery

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest