Eva Makk: The Grand Dame of Art
by
Nan DeVincent-Hayes, Ph.D

        Picture her: She's wearing a long bright pink dress; her foot is suspended in air as she
  graciously descends the grand, winding staircase; her angular but dainty hands graze the stair's 
  handrail for both support and effect; and her hair is elegantly coiffed, highlighting the hint of a
  smile she's perfected. Not only does she emit an aura of confidence but she is equally regal
  looking, gracefully moving, and all encompassing.
        Unlike her husband, Americo, whose oils ripple with bold colors, Eva's paintings--like
  herself--reflect more subdued and suffused and less defined colors but yet each of her works
  are able to reach into that hidden part of all of us and touch a raw nerve. It is as though her art
  can awaken the sleeping monster in us and turn him into a mellow, loving angel who allows us
  to see what isn't so obvious, too appreciate what isn't so announced, to love what isn't so lovable.
  All of this comes from a petite woman who once said, "Our art represents our life . . . seeing the
  world in desperation and witnessing magnificent survival. In its ultimate need for completeness,
  the complex human being always emerges, seeking tenderness, love, beauty and dignity to
  maintain its sanity, balance and wholeness."
         When she first started to paint in her early days in France, she'd sit with brush at canvas
  --much like a writer looking at a blank paper--and not know what to paint, but now, after years of
  experience, she can't find the time to paint all of it. What she likes most is to paint "humanity" in
  all its forms. "To me, humanity is the centerpoint of the horizon . . . the essence of now and
  forever, of elsewhere and here, of the beginning and the ultimate end" (Makk 43). This can be
  seen in such oils as "Young Love" where she depicts a little girl, Adriane, with the family's Persian
  cat. And while the cat is upset at being picked up and held, the little's girl's expression shows the
  opposite: Sweetness, warmth, love. Her dark hair contrasts nicely with the grays of the cat while
  yet blending in with the somberness of the dark greens and browns of the background. It is this
  kind of contradiction and divergence that bursts with life from her canvasses. And just as Eva is
  superb at painting figures, and family scenes, people interacting on streets, at parks, in restaurants,
  she is equally accomplished at creating seasonal motifs as that seen in "Cafe" where, in a surrealistic
  panorama, she blends in the last vestiges of autumn with the oncoming, underlying winter, where
  people meet and greet in an outside bistro. The reds, browns, ecrus meld together in such a way
  that we can barely discern shapes and lines and angles. Yet, in "Louvre Garden," the young man
  and woman in the foreground are clearly perceived and differentiated even though it's easily seen
  that they are a component of the entire painting and not the solitary subjects themselves. In it,
  viewers can feel the tenuousness between the boy and girl, sense their love is as fresh and buoyant
  as the season of Spring itself.
        In comparison, "Winter Mood" comes across as a dusky and silvery manipulation, with an
  overlay of points of yellow radiance. In totality, the texture of the composition in combination
  with the interplay of dark to light colors, gives a feeling of warmth amid a cold, dark winter. This
  is also true for Eva's "Picnic" where deliberately rigid brushstrokes generate an impression of white
  rays streaming from an ivory-blue heavens, illuminating figures engaged in summer activities amid
  the greens and yellows and light browns of park foliage. In each case, Eva has managed to depict
  the nature of the season, the time and period of the people, and the landscape of both the lands
  and her own heart in what she had hoped to share with others.
         This bespeaks of "Harmony," as well, where Eva unites history with nature in featuring
  iridescent colors of a French landmark framed by drooping trees and sprouting bushes. This
  piece throbs with Spring sensations, reminding us of blossoming days of the first season.
        "Snowflakes," on the other hand, strikes as a painting bound with energy and power. In it, 
  four ballerinas spin about on high, pointed toes giving a dreamlike illusion to the composition, 
  where little girls rhythmically dance. Throughout, the piece glitters with grace and elegance, and
  the spirit of the art of dance. This serigraph is a signed and numbered limited edition of 275, 
  printed in 55 colors, with all plates created by Eva herself.
        But just as she can expertly portray dancers, seasons, or characters in parks or on mountains,
  and in oceans, she can just as finely create city vistas replete with definitive lines of buildings and
  curves of sidewalks, as in "Montmartre," or she can draw the splendor of the human anatomy as
  she has done in "Fresh Breeze"--a watercolor--where refined angles, contrarily, show the subtleties 
  of the naked form. In it, we can feel the breeze emanating from the open window, blowing the
  purple veil over the woman's hips, and we can smell the freshness of the flowers lying beyond the
  window. This is what good art is all about, allowing observes to see into what isn't shown, what
  isn't quite formed but instead only suggested, through the use of empirical abilities.
        This rare talent of Eva's makes her more than a versatile artist--it makes her an unparalleled
  one as well . . . a gift she has rigorously honed since her days at the academies of fine art in
  France and in Italy, where she met Americo. Prior to that, she grew up in Ethiopia to noble
  Hungarian parents who travelled frequently, taking her--their only child--with them, and including
  her in on all their activities, and teaching her to always strive for the best, to get in touch with her
  feelings and what was around her, to develop only the highest goals, and to celebrate and respect
  life. Having jaunted the globe so much, she was able to speak many different languages, and by
  age five, she could also act as an interpreter. 
        And like her husband and son, she too has earned enough tributes to fill a warehouse, among
  which are the 1993 Award of Excellence, the 1985 Commendation by the City of Los Angeles,
  the American Ecclesiastical Award, and the 1972 Diploma of Achievement. She has also shown in
  Miami, Hawaii (her home state), Madrid, Geneva, Vienna, San Antonio, as well as for the NBC
  Network Television Exhibition in Washington, D.C., the Carnegie International Center in New
  York for the United Nations, and a host of others. 
        Eva Makk, then, is a multi-talented woman, who simultaneously can love life, family, and art,
  and combine all three to form a package filled with both dynamite and elegance. We understand,
  then, why she is the Grand Dame.

  Nan DeVincent-Hayes, Ph.D. is a former executive director of a high end art gallery.

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