Anna Lesznai

Anna Lesznai (1885-1966) was one of the key female members of the Hungarian pre-war avant-garde. In the context of the Arts and Crafts revival at the turn of the twentieth century, she was interested in folk art and peasant culture of her home region in Upper Hungary. Her search for a more ‘harmonious’ existence led her towards a multi-disciplinary aesthetic and intellectual output, which included poetry, fairytales, book cover design, illustration, and textile design. Her embroidery practice, tied to the traditional technique of hímzés, provided a medium of abstraction and simplification to form ornamented patterns. Leszlai immigrated to the United States in 1939, where she continued her work in art education, lecturing and teaching classes in Hungarian art and design.