A member of the circle of Hungarian Activism organized around Lajos Kassák, he studied at Rippl- Rónai, and Kernstok (1913), and was employed in illustrating and design posters. He joined the progressive artistic newsletter called Ma (Today) and became one of the most accomplished members of the socially driven avant-garde.

His cubist-expressionistic lino cuts inspired by revolutionary ideas were published in 1918. After the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in August of 1919, he was forced to leave the country.

For some time he painted in an expressionist style, but by 1921 his work had become non-figurative. In the summer of 1922, he settled in Weimar and stayed there for two years. Bortny...