Willy Andrew Pogány

The Original Art of William Andrew Pogány

William Andrew Pogány (1882-1955) was born in Szeged, Hungary. In Budapest Pogány studied engineering but soon realised that he wished to pursue a career in art. He studied art in both Munich and Paris and c1905 moved to London. Book illustration opportunities opened up to him and he was able to work on some exciting projects such as: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam together with the Richard Wagner books, Tannhauser, Parsifal and The Tale of Lohengrin. These projects made Pogány highly sought after as an illustrator and raised his profile considerably.

At the outbreak of War he moved to the United States where he was able to work as designer of stage sets for the Metropolitan Opera and for various Broadway productions. He also created murals and hotels and other business and institutional buildings. He then became a set designer and then art director for the movie industry.