Zsuzsi Roboz was a unique mixture of British and the exotic; as an artist she was a unique mixture of Classical and Romantic. Though she was born and raised in Hungary, a dramatic series of events in her teens brought her to Britain where she spent the rest of her life.
“Zsuzsi Roboz was an artist with a gift for portraiture.”
The Guardian
As an artist, Zsuzsi was first born into the theatre, as her father, Imre Roboz, was the manager of the Vígszínház theatre, which specialised in operetta in Budapest, a city that particularly relished this form of entertainment.
Her mother was a society hostess. For most of the war years, the Roboz family lived a relatively unthreatened existence. But as the Russian army approached, Germany staged a coup and replaced the Hungarian government. Things then changed drastically. Budapest was besieged and Zsuzsi’s father disappeared, killed, as her family later discovered, by invading forces.
Zsuzi Roboz (1929 - 2012)
Zsuzsi and her mother were sheltered by neighbours and eventually made a dramatic escape across the melting ice of the Danube and found their way to the safety of the allies.
In London she made her way into the employ of the Hungarian film mogul Alexander Korda, who had been a friend of her father’s. A turning point in her life came when she met the Italian painter Pietro Annigoni. In 1954 she moved to Italy and spent a year in his studio class, returning to London equipped with skills as a draughtswoman.
She was part of a lively London bohemian scene of artists, dancers, writers, musicians and poets. In 1964 she married Teddy Smith who admired what she did and was eager to encourage her talent.
‘She has known and portrayed many extraordinary men and women ....the musicians, the dancers, the actors, the painters .... her portrait drawings range from Spanish Gypsies and Croatian peasants to aristocratic grandees and the great beauties of her age.’
John Russell Taylor from 'Roboz: A Painters' Paradox'
Zsuzi Roboz at work in her studio.
Her work is held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate, and National Portrait Gallery, with numerous books on her work and biographies celebrating her unique and unquestionable talents as a painter, sculptor, draftsman and printmaker.
Zsuzi Roboz with Dame Alicia Markova, founder of the Festival Ballet at the Festival Hall.
“It was my privilege to have been Zsuzi’s dealer for the last twenty years of her life. She was simply the most wonderful draughtsman, the foundations of which no doubt had come from her studying with Annigoni.
But apart from her art it was her personality and her circle of friends and the interest that she brought to the gallery that made working with her so exciting.”
David Messum
Discover and shop online at Messum's, Zsuzi Roboz: A Painter's Paradox, by John Russell Taylor.