József Gábriel [Hungarian/American, b.1952] obtained his diploma in 1980 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. In the same year he became a member of the Artists Society, the Young Artists Studio, and was awarded the Szönyi Scholarship. He has a great talent for etching and engraving. His works move on the border of realism and abstraction delicately and sensitively, but with a strong hand he presents faraway, foggy visions. The characters in his paintings come from the distant sign of time-deepness and the knowledge of European culture. He summons the moods, the desires from past times, and tells a tale which is not concrete reality, but appears in our dreams with cloudy memories. So unique is his style that Gábriel Nostalgia is a phrase used by his critics and contemporaries to describe it. In 1984 he was awarded the European Artist of Merit membership.

Prizes:

1981 Studio Prize, Hungary
1982 Silver Medal and the Chader Prize, V. International Graphics Exhibition, Belgium
1984 Silver Medal, VI. International Graphics Exhibition, Belgium
1985 Gold Medal, VI. European Art Salon Graphics Exhibition, Germany
1985 Silver Medal, VIT Graphics Competition, Moscow
1990 Gold Medal, Pro Arte, Miklós Borsos Competition, Hungary
1994 Cultural Excellence Prize, Hungary
1996 ZalaArt Prize, Hungary

Exhibitions:

1982 Hamburg, Munich, Belgium, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991 Budapest
1984 Hamburg, Havana, Belgium
1985 Rome, Germany, Poland
1986 Vienna
1992 Belgium, Holland
1995 Dallas, Hungary, Romania
1996, 1998 Hungary, Austria
1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005 Dallas
2002 50th Anniversary, Hungary

Works in Public Collections:

Musée des Beaux Arts, Belgium
Göcsej Museum, Miskolc Museum, Déry Museum, and the Kaposvár Museum, Hungary
European Contemporary Fine Artists, Tokyo

References:

Fitz, Péter: Contemporary Hungarian Art Lexicon; Budapest, 1993-2000, vol. 1, p. 672.
Seregélyi, György: Hungarian Painters and Graphic Artists Lexicon 1800-1988; Szeged, 1988, p. 191.
P.Sz.T.: Contemporary Hungarian Painters and Sculptors; Budapest, 1985, p. 106.
Dr. Mária Egri: TISICUM IX. County Museums Annual, 1996. p. 189-203.
Szabó, Ernö: Message from Nakonxipan.
Newsmagazine, 1993 November 17. p. 9.
Szabó, Ágnes: Art-Corner. 1989 December 7. p. 5.
H. K. :(Hujber, Katalin) In The Studio of József Gábriel, Magazine, 1993 October 30. p. 7.
Pajor, Csaba: The successes and projects of József Gábriel
Salamon, Nándor: József Gábriel painter. 1998 September, p. 6.
Dr. L. Kostyál: Thoughts & Signs – József Gábriel Exhibition. 1988/7 Müvészet Magazine
Dr. L. Kostyál: Thoughts in connection with József’s Gábriel paintings – Pictures and Poems. Exhibition catalogue 2002 August.