The Runners
Ted Egri
Created : 1986
Donated : 1995
Medium : Painting/Oil
Dimensions: 61.5 inx55.5 in
Located: 2nd Floor, Northeast Hallway
Ted Egri has been making art since he was seven years old in New York City. He moved to Taos in 1950 with his wife Kit. Primarily a painter upon arrival in Taos, Egri began making sculpture to express his strong emotions about social injustice.
“I had already done one sculpture, called Hands are Reaching Through the Bars, which is based on my feeling of horror about the lynching of Black people in the South and the jailing of Black people for no apparent reason. It didn’t seem like painting could get across my feeling about it. My emotions in art were very much unfulfilled by painting. I kept on painting, but that’s how I began sculpting.”
As a sculptor, painter, and humanist, Egri has endured by destroying boundaries of culture or class with works ranging from monumental abstract steel sculptures to intimate pencil portraits. And he shows no sign of slowing down. “People have the misconception that when you’re over 65, you’re going downhill,” Egri said. “For me, life began at 70. Up to now I’ve just been practicing. You’re much more creative and can make your dreams come true much better in maturity. You get closer to your true self.”
