Trauner, Sándor (Alexandre Trauner) Budapest, 1906 - 1993, Omonville-la-Petite

Between 1921 and 1922 he trained under József Rippl-Rónai at the Independent School of Haris köz before attending Artúr Podolini-Volkmann's Arts School on Váci út. In 1924 he enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts as a pupil of István Csók. In the middle of the 1920s he formed an Avant-garde group with his friends György Kepes, Dezső Korniss, Béla Hegedűs, Lajos Vajda and Ernő Schubert. He also became acquainted with Lajos Kassák and participated in the Ma circle. On István Csók's suggestion he left the country with his friends in 1929 - being afraid of the official sanctions. He settled down in Paris where besides painting his interest started to turn towards films, first working as Lazare Meerson's assistant, and later designing sets for Jacques Prévert, Marcel Carné, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder and Fred Zimmermann. He was awarded the César (the most important award of French film) three times and won an Oscar award in 1960. Bibliography: Trauner (Párizs), exhibition cat., ed. R. BAJKAY, Éva, Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, 1981. o El mundo de Alexandre Trauner, Valladolid, 1999.