Lehel is a French artist of Hungarian origin. He was born in Sopron, a tourist town on the Austro-Hungarian border, into a wealthy and loving family.  His father was Protestant, his mother Catholic.  He prefers churches to temples, which he considers too austere.  His family was the very epitome of Hungarian society at the time, which had grown out of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and spilled over into Romania, Croatia and elsewhere.  Of course, until his country was liberated by Russian troops, he was subjected to all the upheavals associated with the war.  The population and his grandparents were moved to More, a small town 100 km from Budapest.  His parents risked their lives to save an entire family during the worst period of the Holocaust, and they were posthumously awarded the Righteous Medal in Paris in memory of his parents’ courage.

He studied at the Budapest School of Graphic Arts until he passed his baccalaureate in 1950.  Because he belonged to a very wealthy family in the old regime, he was not allowed to study higher education after graduating, so he had to join the army for 3 years, until 1953, for his military service. His superiors immediately spotted his talent for drawing, and during his service Lehel became the official painter to paint the portraits of Lenin, Stalin and Mátyás Rákosi (the Prime Minister at the time).  He was disciplined for refusing to paint the Prime Minister’s portrait because, unlike Stalin and Lenin, he did not find his face interesting.  So he painted the banners for the regime’s propaganda parades in the streets of Budapest on a large scale.

Therefore, it was only natural that, after his 3 years of military service, he should join a Hungarian state company in charge of film and theatre posters, which at the time were painted rather than printed, and he stayed there for 3 years until October 1956.  It was from this period that he gained his experience of monumental works such as posters.

In October 1956, in the midst of the revolution, he was forced to leave his country after being arrested for tearing down Communist propaganda posters, and to flee to the West via Austria.  Although he received a grant from the American Foundation Free Europe and could therefore easily move to the United States like many of his artist friends, he chose France, familiar with its painters, theatre and cinema.

He continued his studies at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris until 1962.  He won first prizes in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962 at the Cité Universitaire Internationale.  After 5 years at the Beaux Arts in Paris, he left to study for 3 years in Rome, where he again won first prizes at Priverno, Sperlonga, Roma, and in 1963 held his first solo exhibition.  Gold and silver medals.

He then took advantage of the relative new freedom afforded him by his status as a political refugee and, despite his limited means, travelled throughout free Europe, especially to Italy, Spain, Portugal and England, where he rediscovered all the cultural and artistic heritage he had loved in his dreams.  This was followed by a long series of solo exhibitions and participation in group exhibitions:

1963 – AMSTERDAM – Santée Landweer Gallery

1969 – CHICAGO – International exhibition

1974 – AMSTERDAM – TROM Gallery

1976 – PARIS – Hungarian Artists in France, ISIS Gallery

1977 – PARIS – Hungarian Artists, Maison Hongroise

1977 – MONACO – Selection Grand Prix of Contemporary Art

1977 – PARIS – Salon du Luxembourg au Palais du Luxembourg

1977 – PARIS – Salon des Beaux-Arts Grand Palais

1979 – PARIS – Présence Paris Budapest Orangerie du Palais du Luxembourg

1979 – MONTE CARLO – International Grand Prix international of Contemporary Art

1980 – LUXEMBOURG

1981 – PARIS – Paris Champs Elysée Gallery

1981 – PARIS – Autumn Salon Grand Prix

1982 – MONTE CARLO – National Museum

1982 – BUDAPEST

He became a naturalised French citizen in 1982.  In 1982, Lehel was recognised by the Ministry of State for Cultural Affairs as a professional artist.  He became a full member of the Société des Artistes Francais.  He exhibited every year at the Grand Palais and was awarded a silver medal.

1991, MOSCOW, for the first library open to the public belonging to the French Embassy, he created a monumental ceiling fresco of more than 250 m².

Renewing his experience of posters, he designed those for the Latin Film Festival in Paris, as well as the associated prizes for the winning artists.

From the moment he arrived in Paris in 1956, he was a frequent guest of Michel Gyarmathy, director of the Folies Bergères, where he met most of the famous artists.  He painted many sets for him based on Gyarmathy’s models.  One of his most moving memories is of Michel Gyarmathy asking Joséphine Backer to sing for them both in Hungarian a song she had chosen from one of her revues performed in Budapest.

He also befriended Katalin Bogyay and followed her throughout her brilliant career.  In London first of all, she organised an exhibition for him in the Hungarian consulate near Covent Garden.  Then in Paris, where she made a film about Lehel for Hungarian Television.  In Paris, when she was appointed Hungarian ambassador to UNESCO, the works by Lehel were served as covers and punctuate the main chapters of H. E. Katalin Bogyay’s book, the Art of Cultural Diplomacy: a Panorama of the Presidency.  He also met her again in New York after her appointment as Hungary’s ambassador to the UN. She organised a solo exhibition for him at the Hungarian Consulate in Manhattan.

Lehel also had very strong links with other Hungarian artists who are now deceased, such as Endre Roszda and his friend Francoise Gillot, Gyuse Varga, a graphic designer who remained in Hungary and organised a superb exhibition for him at the Opera of Budapest.

Lehel’s work can be found in numerous private collections in Paris, New York, Florida and Budapest.  Since 2000 he has been the main creator and animator of the Espace Cinko in Paris.  Today he still paints without any commercial thought.