Stephen Csoka

American (1865-1989)

Stephen Csoka, a Hungarian-born realist painter studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest before moving to the United States.  He became known as a Regionalist artist specializing in figurative drawing and etching.  In 1940 Csoka submitted several paintings to the annual Washington Square outdoor exhibition.  He won the grand prize and the Contemporary Arts Gallery in New York mounted Csoka’s first one-man exhibition in America.  Csoka taught art in New York for four decades, first at the Parsons School of Design, then Hunter College, City College, the National Academy of Design, and, finally, at the Fashion Institute of Technology.  He was a member of the National Academy of Design, the Society of American Etchers, the Audobon Artists Association and the Pastel Society of America.

Csoka’s exhibitions and awards include a medal at the Barcelona International Exhibition in 1929, a prize at the City of Budapest Exhibit in 1930, prizes at the Society of American Etchers in 1942 and 1945, prizes at the Library of Congress in 1944 and 1946, a prize at the Society of Brooklyn Artists in 1944, a prize at the Philadelphia Watercolor Club in 1945, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1945, the Carnegie Institute in 1943, 1944, and 1945, the Art Institute of Chicago in 1944, the Los Angeles Museum of Art in 1945, the National Academy of Design from 1940 through 1945, one-artist shows at the Contemporary Artists in 1940, 1943, and 1945; and the Minneapolis State Fair in 1943.

Csoka’s work is in several collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Budapest Museum of Art, British Museum, and the Library of Congress.