LINOCUTS, BY IMRE ÉGERHÁZI FOR THE BOOK ON GRAPHICS, 1992

I learned all the ins and outs of engraving from my master, József Menyhárt, who was very fond of and happy to teach me how to make paintings with linocut and woodcut, with a technique mixed with monotypes and etchings. On his advice, to make it cheaper, I made my first chisels out of umbrella wire and placed them in the grips of disused stamps. To protect my finger, I pulled a small rubber tube onto the chisel wire.
I got better tools later, but I still use the old ones today.
I liked to do incisions in linoleum (PVC) the most. At first, I cut out large spots from the material, I only built on the white and black spots, but later made the sections more detailed and toned.
With these engravings, only rarely I would show up on exhibitions.
Two of the more significant ones is the 3rd Miskolc Biennial and the International Graphic Exhibition in Maidenek (Poland). Besides József Menyhárt, the words of Imre Nagy Zsögödi were the ones that encouraged me to engage in Lino cutting the most. On one occasion we talked about abstraction when Imre Nagy said: “put [your vision] into wood or linoleum, and you will see all the unnecessary details are simply left behind by itself”.
I’m adamant in my belief that the editing and summarization needed for “thinking in black and white” is good for any painter.

Imre Égerházi
Graphics of Imre Égerházi, 1992