Arnold Gross

From the mid-1950s, Gross began to exhibit regularly in Budapest and in Hungarian provincial galleries, showing paintings and increasingly his etchings and graphic works.^[3][10][11] His first major solo shows in Budapest were held in venues such as the Fényes Adolf Hall, Mednyánszky Hall, Dürer Hall and the Helikon Gallery, and from the 1960s he exhibited widely abroad.^[10][8][3] Gross's work was shown in major European and overseas art centres, including Rome, London, Vienna, Hamburg, Cologne, Brussels, Stockholm, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Athens, New Delhi, Bergen, Trieste, Tokyo and Los Angeles.^{[11][10][8][7]}

In the late 1960s and 1970s, he had solo shows in Los Angeles, Hamburg and Athens, while his works were also included in international graphic biennials and thematic exhibitions.^[11][10][12] In 1949 the graphics department on which he studied was transferred to the College of Fine Arts (Képzőművészeti Főiskola), where he graduated in 1953.^[1][11][8]

In September 2014, the Gross Arnold Galéria és Kávézó, commonly known as "Arnoldo", opened at Bartók Béla út 46 in Budapest as a combined gallery and café dedicated to his art and personality, a venue that he himself initiated and opened shortly before his death.^[13][1][2] The Arnoldo gallery regularly hosts exhibitions of his works and related cultural events, further contributing to the dissemination of his visual universe.^[13][5][2]

Gross became widely known for his copperplate etchings, which he coloured individually with a distinctive technique that ensured no two impressions were identical and which transformed the traditionally monochrome medium into brightly coloured, rhythmically structured images.^{[11][12][5][2]} His prints are characterised by fine, lace-like lines, dense ornamentation and a lack of empty space, with every part of the surface filled by figures, plants, architectural motifs and decorative details.^[1][2][7]