"Motherhood" Artist Proof Artist Proof by Eva Kolosvary-Stupler

In Motherhood, Eva Kolosvary-Stupler distills the profound essence of maternal connection into a composition of abstract, geometric forms. The larger figure, situated to the right, evokes the form of a mother, reduced to essential elements: bust, hips, and womb-like core. Emerging from her is a more petite figure—symbolic of the infant—whose form is gently pulled from the body that gave it life. At the center, a rounded form bridges the two bodies. This shared core, rendered with depth through light and shadow, suggests the heart, the Earth, or the eternal pulse of life passed from one to another.

Surrounding the figures is a field of stippled ink, a texture reminiscent of a nebula or dust cloud, emphasizing the fleeting and sacred moment of birth. The infant figure subtly gestures leftward, toward the future, while the maternal body remains rooted, acting as origin, as soil, as life source. In this way, Kolosvary-Stupler transforms the archetype of the mother into something elemental—timeless and bound to nature itself.

About the Artist
Born in 1937 in Budapest as Éva Stein, Eva Kolosvary-Stupler survived the trauma of World War II in hiding with her mother and sister while her father was sent to forced labor. Following the Hungarian uprising in 1956, she fled to Switzerland with her husband, the graphic artist Pál Kolozsváry. The couple eventually emigrated to California, where Kolosvary-Stupler pursued her education in the arts—first at El Camino Junior College and then earning an MFA from California State University, Long Beach, in 1980.

Though her early career focused on ceramics, where she gained international recognition, her later artistic practice expanded to include graphic arts, printmaking, and assemblage. She mastered the intaglio technique in the 1970s and became an influential figure in the Los Angeles art scene, serving as president of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society in 1980. Her work was widely exhibited, with numerous pieces entering significant institutional collections, including the Smithsonian.

Context and Legacy
Created in 1977, Motherhood belongs to a body of work in which Kolosvary-Stupler explored human intimacy through abstraction. At a time when artists were revisiting figuration through minimalist and symbolic forms, she offered a deeply personal interpretation of it. Her use of essential shapes—neither strictly anatomical nor decorative—carries emotional resonance, grounded in her own life story of survival, displacement, and maternal strength.

Collector’s Note
As an Artist Proof, this lithograph offers a rare insight into Kolosvary-Stupler’s conceptual process. The restrained palette, delicate texture, and symbolic density make Motherhood a quietly powerful piece, ideal for collectors interested in mid-century abstraction, feminist narratives, or post-war émigré art. Framed and presented with care, this work stands as both a tribute to the universality of motherhood and a testament to the enduring clarity of Kolosvary-Stupler’s vision.

REFERENCE NUMBER: LU654316521142
PERIOD: 1970-1979
CONDITION: Good
MEASUREMENTS: Height: 15.25" Width: 15.25" Depth: 1"
COUNT: 1
MATERIAL: Lithograph
CREATOR: Eva Kolosvary-Stupler