Above: Full view of pastel work

Above: Detail

A large and expertly rendered pastel on illustration board by Hungarian artist Pal Fried. Fried, who commonly worked in oils, was equally adept with pastels and this is a fine offering revisiting one of his favorite themes; a young ballerina in anticipation of her performance. Work is nicely matted and framed and in an excellent state of preservation.

Above: The artist’s signature

Above: Framed and matted behind glass in period and original to work frame

This Hungarian American artist was born in
Budapest and studied at the Hungarian Academie under Professor Hugo Pohl and in Paris under Claude Monet and Lucien Simone. Under Pohl’s influence, he
executed many portraits, nudes and Oriental scenes in pastel. He was also greatly influenced by the French Impressionist School of Renoir and Degas.
His works are listed in the Fine Arts Book. Fried’s signature on his paintings was Fried Pal, last name first in the European manner. He exhibited his work in Muucsarnok in Budapest. In 1947, after WW II, he emigrated to America where he taught at the Academy of Arts in New York and developed his own unique style and technique. In the
1950’s and 60’s, Pal Fried gained popularity while living and painting in Hollywood. He made the rounds and often painted high society women and celebrities including Marilyn Monroe and the Gabor sisters. In New York, he
painted portraits of Herbert Lehman, Governor and Senator from New York,Will Rogers and other notables. Fried, an artist of the Hungarian school, worked with pastels and oil paints, and most often depicted beautiful young women, nudes, ballerinas, Parisian society women, western scenes, horse racing, and an occasional seascape.

His artwork has gained much deserved recognition and notoriety and has become highly collectible. Many of his paintings hung in the famed Haussner Restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland. Pal Fried died in New York City on March 6, 1976, at the age of 82. He died four days after the death of his beloved wife, Eva.