”Infants games of Master Bigears” – Photo exhibition of József Tóth

József Tóth (1940-) was drawing caricatures even as a teenager for magazines such as Ludas Matyi, Füles, etc. He graduated from Attila József Secondary Grammar School and later on, he acquired photographer’s qualifications. Between 1960 and 1962, he studied photography at the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), and between 1962 and 1970, he actually worked for MTI as an advertising photographer. His brief ars poetica is as follows: “Associative advertisement dipped in humor and everything is valuable that can be documented via photos.” From 1970, he worked as a free-lance photographer. He made a whole lot of brochures, newspaper covers, calendars, posters, record covers and photo materials of various publications for big firms and foreign trade companies. From 1978, József Tóth worked as the photo editor of journals including Gabi-Mami, Szabadidő, Hungarian Digest, Privát Profit and Hungarian Observer.  In 1992, he was appointed creative director of women’s magazine Nők Lapja. Between 1980 and 1984, he worked for the György Bálint School for Journalists of the Association of Hungarian Journalists (MÚOSZ) as an acting teacher.

József Tóth held various positions at Association of Hungarian Photographers and the National Association of Hungarian Artists. He frequently participated in professional events. Since his first exhibition (1966), he has had several exhibitions across Hungary. József Tóth is the author of 16 photo books.

Prizes and awards:

• Béla Balázs Prize (1978)
• For the Hungarian Commercials (1980)
• József Pécsi Prize(1983)
• Merited Artist (1988)
• Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Hungarian Photographers (2001)
• Grand Award of MAOE (National Association of Hungarian Artists) (2004)

His works are preserved at the Museum of Hungarian Photography (Kecskemét), the Historical Photo Collection of the Hungarian National Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery and National Széchényi Library (Budapest). NSZL’s Collection of Posters and Small Prints keeps over 200 posters by József Tóth and the Collection of Contemporary Photographs included in the Photographic Collection owns several of his great photo series.

Related to the motto of NSZL’s programs at the Night of the Museums 2015 (“Humor Cubed”), we present two of József Tóth’s recent series: “Infant games of Master Bigears” and “Greetings from Budapest”, none of which have been presented at NSZL before. The audience can have a look at the meeting of photography and painting through the glasses of Master Bigear. You can rarely find a photo which has been inspired by a Renaissance painting…József Tóth associated paintings of different era, thus creating a unique message and atmosphere for his pictures. Carrying a wry sense of humor and made with the use of the latest technology, his photographs can be associated to paintings. Another one of his series presents well-known tourist sites of Budapest, adding special, often unusual and surprising flavor to the architectural details of the city.

At the Night of Museums 2015, our playful visitors can play the popular memory game with the photos of Master Bigears.

Venue: National Széchényi Library, Buda Castle, Building “F”, Floor 7, H-1014 Budapest
The exhibition will be open between June 20 and July 11, 2015, during the opening hours of the Library. Visitors who do not own a Reader Pass to NSZL can have a look at our temporary chamber exhibitions for a flat fee of HUF 400.