Károly Fülöp’s highly spiritual vision found expression in both the fine and decorative arts as well as in interesting combinations of the two. As a young boy Fulop had a monastic education in his home town, and the medieval art he saw around him left a lasting impression. He studied art in Budapest, Munich, and Paris and may have maintained a winter studio in Europe at least through 1930.

Fulop had settled in New York by 1921, when he was given an exhibition with William Grimm (1883-1950) at the Whitney Studio Club. Seventeen canvases, mostly decorative port scenes painted with rich colors, were shown. In the summer of 1923 an exhibition of his seascapes and figure compositions inspired by music, with gold and silver leaf, was held at Gallery on the Moors, Gloucester, Massachusetts. In early 1924 he exhibited decorative paintings on canvas and silk at the Babcock Galleries, New York. Most were on religious themes. From 1925 to 1931 and again in 1937 he exhibited his watercolors and paintings on canvas and silk at Doll and Richards, Boston. By 1927 he was showing his sculptures and by 1930 his carved panels. Sometime during the 1920s he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Philadelphia Public Library. He exhibited at Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, in March 1930 and at the Los Angeles Museum in September 1930, courtesy of the Stendahi Art Galleries, Los Angeles, where he exhibited in December 1931. Fulop opened a school of decorative arts in his studio in Los Angeles in 1931 and taught at the Plaza Art Center in 1932. He also made ceramic sculptures during the 1930s. Fulop continued to participate in local and national exhibitions, winning first prize for sculpture at the Los Angeles Museum’s Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture in 1937, an award at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, and the Mr. and Mrs. Irving T. Snyder Prize from the San Diego (Calif.) Museum in 1940. The Los Angeles Museum organized a second solo exhibition of his work in December 1940. Little is known about his later life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Archiv. Am. Art, Stendahi Art Galleries Papers, artist’s file § New York, Babcock Galleries, Decorative Paintings § Károly Fulop exh. cat., [1924], with foreword by Josef Stransky § "Karoly Fulop: Grand Central Galleries," Art News 28 (March 29, 1930): 13 § "Art Calendar: Karoly Fulop," California Arts and Architecture 40 (December 1931): 6, repro., cover § LACMA 1980, pp. 70,97.