Faces of Erie:
Portraits by Professor Zoltan Heya

June 15 - September 9, 2001

Professor Zoltan Heya, "Patricia Mercier" 1968

The Erie Art Museum hosted a one-man exhibition featuring the work of portrait painter and longtime Erie resident Professor Zoltan Heya (1895-1979). A Hungarian immigrant, Heya settled in Pennsylvania in 1949 and proceeded to produce a number of lifelike portraits of prominent leaders in the Erie community. His reputation as a painter was well-established before settling in Erie. He painted businessmen and clergy throughout extensive travels in the Far East and Europe and during stay in New York City as a studio artist. Several of his paintings are now housed in collections in the United States and abroad.

He began his professional life in Hungary as an artist, but was eventually drafted into W.W.I. Following his release from the military, he traveled extensively throughout the Far East and Europe. Eventually he settled in Erie to teach at Gannon University and raise a family. He painted hundreds of portraits throughout his long life and this exhibition displayed over thirty of his original paintings. The paintings depict Erie residents, specifically community leaders and their families, dating from the 1960s until his death in 1979.