Agnes Gallus
Artist, mother, humanitarian. Born May 15, 1930, in Opalyi, Hungary. Died Aug. 8 in Toronto of diabetic complications, aged 80.
When Agnes Gallus turned her artist's eye to her prairie wildflower garden in Saskatchewan, she created one of her last works of art - a metaphor for life, passion and creativity, a spiritual retreat from the diabetes that had begun to ravage her physical and mental health.
A professional artist in Regina, Agnes was known for her vivid abstract paintings, delicate line drawings, distinctively carved pottery and free-form sculptures.
The fifth of six children of Maria (Fedora) and George Victor Szentgyorgyi, Agnes was a great beauty with a vivacious personality. She studied art in Gyor, Hungary, then, in 1954, married Laszlo Aladar Gallus, 22 years her senior - a union she later described as "arranged" by her mother. The couple fled Hungary during the 1956 uprising with infant son Les. Agnes was pregnant with daughter Agi, who was born in Vienna. The family emigrated to Regina, where daughter Maya was later born.
Agnes continued her art studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where she also taught classes from 1970-1977, inspiring many students with her knowledge and love of art. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Dunlop Art Gallery, MacKenzie Art Gallery and Saskatchewan Arts Board in Regina.
Life on the prairies was a shock. Although she made many friends, Agnes yearned for the cafés and opera houses of Europe, the fruit trees of her family's orchards and the mild winters. Six years ago, as her health became more fragile, her daughters moved her to Toronto. On drives around the city to see the flowering trees, she would gasp, "Stop the car! I'm alive!" taking in the magnificence of a magnolia tree or a vibrant red rose bush.
Despite her limited pension, Agnes was passionately committed to many social causes. She gave money, food and clothing to anyone in need, never forgetting her own experience as a refugee. As an artist and single mother (separated from her husband in 1968), she was all too familiar with the grinding effects of poverty.
A free spirit and a survivor to the end, she lived according to her own code. Determined not to move to a nursing home, she died suddenly at home, surrounded by photos of her family, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the Dalai Lama and Buddha - the multitude of spiritualities a reaction, perhaps, to her strict Catholic upbringing in a convent school.
Months before her death, she read aloud a poem she had written about her garden. "The winds are blowing, the petals flowing and swirling, like the dance of death in the air, but bringing promise for new life. There is no real death, just a circle, a transformation." Pausing, she added, "It's true, you know. There is no death, just transformation." A show of her art works is planned at the Artscape Wychwood Barns in Toronto on May 28, 2011.
By Maya Gallus, Agnes's daughter.