Woman with sunshade

István Martsa: Woman with sunshade

(1968, St. Elizabeth's Park)

The statue was originally used to decorate the square in front of the Pannonia restaurant. Later, due to the transformation of the restaurant, the statue was relocated. Finally in 2015, its worthy place was found in front of the small entrance to Wesselényi beach, next to the Handshake Europe Sculpture Park.

The sculpture’s robust female figure embodies both physical strength and stability, as well as grace from feminine charm. The female ideal of the 1960s looks at us trapped in limestone.

“Despite the calm, the sculpture feels something of internal tension and dynamism - inherent in the different movements of the body and limbs.” (T. Riha Margit, 1974)

The artist

István Martsa

He was born in Bratislava in 1912. He was an electrician, then after the war he worked in the studio of Géza Csorba, and he enrolled in college at his encouragement. He graduated from the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in 1950, where his masters were Géza Csorba, Béni Ferenczy, András Beck. He is a two-time Mihály Munkácsy Prize-winning Hungarian sculptor and medalist.

He has been an exhibiting artist since 1947. In his first period, between 1948 and 1952, he was strongly attached to classical traditions, at which time he patterned mainly small sculptures, medals (Van Gogh medal), and portraits with excellent character representation and care. His portraits and coins testify to his excellent representational skills. He turned his attention to circular sculptures in the mid-1950s, and from then on he received regular public assignments, which provided the backbone of his further art. His art is basically realistic in style, but as a result of his study trips to the Far East, a change in his sculpture has been observed since 1959. He was one of the first to use the iron welding technique at home. His public sculptures are characterized by harmony and a wording that suits the environment.