Silent walls and labyrinths of consciousness: unusual paintings by Lily Orsag

The paintings of artists who survived the war and persecution often bear traces of painful memories. This is clearly seen in the work of Lily Orsag, an artist from Uzhgorod, known for her surrealistic works. As a child, the girl loved to draw, which her parents did not really like. However, they allowed her to pursue art, and, in the end, her father recognized her talent. Before the outbreak of World War II, Livia Osterreicher (later she took the pseudonym Lily Orsag) studied at the gymnasium, where the Ukrainian painter Adalbert Erdeli (Beyla Gryts) taught. In 1944, a 17-year-old girl ended up in a Jewish ghetto, where she was deeply shocked by her stay. Over the next years, the artist in her paintings depicted blank walls, against which there is a lonely female figure.

After the war, Lili Orsag resumed her studies, graduated from the academy and got a job as a decorator in the puppet theater. Work on the scenery took a lot of time and effort, but Orsag continued to draw and improve herself, gradually getting acquainted with new trends in European art. She began to move away from surrealism, and for some time was absorbed in icon painting. Soon the artist again plunges into the world of amazing and fantastic forms. The works resemble multi-layer labyrinths, consisting of separate abstract fragments.

Lili Orsag loved to travel, during her short life (she died at 52) ​​she presented her paintings at exhibitions in Poland, France, Norway, Austria and many other countries. Moreover, among these events there were many solo exhibitions. Having lived almost all her adult life in Hungary, where she moved with her parents after the war, she became one of the most famous artists in this country.