LAKELAND, FL.- Polk Museum of Art is presenting two new exhibitions, “Tibor Pataky: Into Abstraction” and “Polk County Collects.” The exhibitions will run until-October 5.

Tibor Pataky (pronounced TEE-bor PAT-a-key) was an obscure but notable Hungarian-American artist who lived and worked in Central Florida during the mid-20th century. While pursuing his master’s degree at Florida Southern College in 1936, he became the instructor of life drawing. During this time, he found inspiration in Milton Avery and other artists who were affiliated with The Research Studio in Maitland, Fla. As this influence grew, Pataky aspired to leave Florida and pursue additional instruction from leading artists. This led him to Provincetown, Mass., where he studied under the tutelage of Hans Hofmann in 1952. Pataky spent six summers as Hofmann’s student, which had a profound effect on his later work. The Pataky exhibition is a collaboration between Polk Museum of Art and Florida Southern College. It features works from the College’s collection, which includes eight paintings and some 400 drawings by Pataky.

In addition to the Polk Museum of Art’s large permanent collection, and impressive collections at institutions such as Bok Tower Gardens, Florida Southern College, Southeastern University and Polk State College, there are a number of private art collectors throughout the county who have amassed beautiful and important works of art. “Polk County Collects” showcases selections from some of those private collections to give our audiences a glimpse into what some fellow Polk County residents have collected over the years.

Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, Florida, is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts in Central Florida. The Museum is one of the Top 10 art museums in the State of Florida, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and the only art museum accredited by the American Association of Museums serving the 561,000 residents of Polk County.