MIHALY BIRÓ. Pathos in red

MAK Studies 19
German English
144 pages, numerous illustrations
26 x 21 cm, soft cover
MAK, Vienna / Publishing House for Modern Art Nuremberg, 2010

Mihály Biró was one of the most famous and uncompromising Hungarian graphic artists at the beginning of the 20th century. The socially and politically committed artist founded a new genre - the politically motivated picture poster. Inseparably linked to his name is “The Red Man with the Hammer” (1912), with which he also achieved international success.

Influenced by the socially critical French posters and the English “Guild of Handicraft”, the poster designer, draftsman, sculptor and painter became one of the leading commercial artists after the First World War. Biró's posters for the Social Democratic Workers' Party and memorable advertising motifs became a model for an entire generation of graphic designers. The MAK has 45 posters in its collection, which are shown for the first time in this publication and documented in a catalog raisonné.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name (October 6, 2010–January 9, 2011) at the MAK.

Edited by Peter Noever, with contributions from Michael Diers, Sebastian Hackenschmidt, Peter Klinger, Kathrin Pokorny-Nagel.