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Eva Cellini was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1925, but was raised in Hungary. She was graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Budapest. In 1949 she began working as an
illustrator for a communist factory dedicated to political posters, especially of Stalin.
Formal artistic training taught her how to paint with extraordinary skill. However, the jobs available in communist Hungary gave her very little creative freedom. Though quite successful,
the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, gave her the motivation necessary to leave her home forever.
She and her artist husband escaped successfully across the Austrian border and subsequently to New York City. Without money or English the couple struggled for a time. Her skill as an
artist landed her many lucrative illustration assignments and she began to thrive.
The experiences of her youth continue to influence Cellini’s work heavily. Her paintings are full of the symbols of her creative exploration. Reoccurring objects such as flowers and
keys speak of the blossoming of her spirit and the unlocking of creative barriers.
The subjects of her work often appear surreal at first glance, but the messages have a commonality that each of us can understand. For example, in the painting, The Key, the armor can
suggest many things, the protection from outside dangers, the shell covering the inner vulnerability, or a warrior prepared for battle. But the knight is holding a key, not a sword. The battle may be an inward one,
perhaps to unlock hidden treasures, doors or secrets. It must be decided by the viewer. Instead of a head there blooms an enormous flower. It is the symbol of beauty, rebirth, fragility, fruitfulness, spirit and
much more. The viewer is left with a feeling of inspiration, that barriers can be breached, and walls scaled.
Cellini’s work is a celebration of the unconquerable human spirit.
One Person Exhibitions
- Aberbach Fine Arts, New York, New York
- Bergen Museum of Art, Bergen, New Jersey
- Leonia Public Library, Leonia, New Jersey
- Magidson Fine Art, New York, New York
- Magidson Fine Art, Aspen, Colorado
Public and Private Collections
- Prentice Hall, New York
- Random House, New York
- Simon & Schuster, New York
- Lothroph, Lee & Shepherd
- Stella Adler
- Holliday House
- Time Magazine
- Life Magazine
- Reader’s Digest
- Irving Stone
- NASA
- US Postal Service
- Lowenbrau Beer
- Ingrid Magidson
- Aberbach Fine Arts, New York
- Denise Overton, New York
- Bergen Museum, New Jersey
- Leonia Public Library, New Jersey
- Women’s Museum, Washington, DC
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