Vajda Lajos Anyja Félig Profilban,1922 1922

In this head study made in 1922, Vajda Lajos used pencil to depict his mother in profile. The sketch comes out of a period in Hungary characterized by political instability and economic hardship following the First World War, events which deeply affected Vajda, who was still a teenager when he made the drawing. After the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic was overthrown in 1919, the country was led by a conservative government that restricted artistic expression. We know that Vajda was interested in modern artistic movements like expressionism and constructivism. But instead of directly engaging with politics, his early work reflects his personal experiences and familial relationships. Art historical research into the cultural and political context that shaped Vajda's personal experience can help us understand the subtle ways that even a simple drawing like this one is affected by the world in which it was made.