Elmyr De Hory (1906-1976) - Picador

Elmyr de Hory (1906–1976)

Portrait with a wide-brimmed hat

Ink on paper. Hand-signed. DIN A4 size (29.7 × 21 cm).

Original work by Elmyr de Hory, one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in 20th-century art history. Born in Budapest in 1906 and died in Ibiza in 1976, he gained international notoriety for his extraordinary ability to recreate the style of some of the great masters of modern art, including Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Derain, or Dufy. His life inspired the book Fake! by Clifford Irving and was immortalized by Orson Welles in the famous documentary F for Fake (1973), a fundamental work on authenticity and the art market.

After his activity as a forger was revealed, criticism and collecting began to value his signed works, recognizing in Elmyr an artist with his own language, an extraordinary capacity for synthesis, and an exceptional command of drawing.

This work represents a three-quarter male portrait, crowned by a broad wide-brimmed hat. The face, with intense expressiveness, is built through an spontaneous and confident stroke, with a combination of swift and precise lines that masterfully define the anatomy and psychology of the subject. The economy of means, the looseness of the drawing, and the compositional elegance reveal the artist’s great graphic skill and evoke the tradition of European modern portraiture.

Far from being merely an exercise in style, this drawing demonstrates Elmyr’s ability to create characters with a strong presence using only a few strokes, a quality that characterizes his best works on paper.

Technique: Ink on paper.
Signature: Hand-signed in the lower right corner.
Format: DIN A4 (29.7 × 21 cm).
Condition: Very good, with light signs of aging and handling typical of the support’s age.