Zoltán Joó
Zoltán Joó (born December 17, 1956, in Budapest) is a Hungarian painter known for contemporary figurative art. He also works as an altar-painter in religious art, and he creates carvings and reliefs. His work often features painted coffered ceilings that evoke medieval moods, and he has produced murals and other decorative wall paintings. He has also illustrated two children's books and worked on an animated book project.
Joó grew up in Budapest and later lived in Veresegyház. He comes from a non-artistic family: his father was a legal adviser and his mother a business broker. He trained as a civil engineer and worked as a manager before turning to painting, inspired by his friend Tamás Péli, who studied at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He learned painting in his master’s atelier.
He works with oils and acrylics and explores many forms, including table pictures, sculptures, altars, painted ceilings, reliefs, large murals, book illustrations, and computer-assisted animation books. His art often carries a medieval, Romanesque mood with ironic twists.
Notable works include the painted coffered ceiling of the Holy Spirit Church, the St Catherine Altar ceiling, the Hands and Faces series, and the St Stephan triptych.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:42 (CET).