Reich Károly

Károly Reich was a graphic artist, poster designer and illustrator working after 1945.

He studied under György Konecsni and Gyula Hincz, who both influenced his art.

Reich was famous for his outstanding drawing skills; he was able to depict anything with a fast and fluent drawing style. He used clear, thin lines to form his unique compositions. The visual elements of his works are very typical and always recognizable. Classicism and the style of antique Grecian urns influenced his art, as well as the classic drawings of Picasso, who rediscovered the antique drawing style.

In 1948, Reich, at the beginning of his career, designed a poster for the important poster exhibition. He depicted an absurd hybrid of a rooster, a trombone, a brush and an eye, which successfully symbolized the poster art. This very monumental, simple but effective poster style (close to Konecsni’s art) didn’t become typical of him in the next decades.

In the 1950s he got state commissions and designed posters in the obligatory socialist realist manner (for example: he made a poster together with Gábor Papp for the 5 year plan in 1951). He also created posters for propaganda movies, like the Battle of Stalingrad, or for social campaigns, like for child education.

Above all, Reich was also a talented illustrator; his works have the perfect harmony between text and image. Besides illustrating more than 500 books, Reich also designed posters in the 1960s and 1970s, which represent his very elegant drawing style in large format. The character of these posters are given by the drawn lines, and pencil work. He also had some works where he used the colored line drawing in a folk art style.                                                                                                                 .