Charles Roka (Róka Károly, 1912-1999) was a Hungarian painter who lived in Norway, whose name became synonymous with kitsch in art.
Roka was born in Hungary in 1912. After studying at the Academy of Art in Budapest, he traveled throughout Europe. In 1937 he finally settled in Norway, where he lived in Bærum, on the outskirts of Oslo, where he spent a year in the academy.
In 1939 he painted his first painting of a half-naked gypsy girl he had seen in Marseille a couple of years before. His variations on the naked gypsy girl helped him get rich but he was not recognized as an artist.
Roka was despised by the artistic community, but was liked by the public. He became very famous with his numerous variations of the "Gypsy Girl", representing gypsies of exotic appearance, painted in the style of pin-up, or sentimental portraits of children with their dogs as pets. His other favorite subject was Hungarian folklore, especially "Gypsies dancing csárdás" (a Hungarian dance).
Roka held exhibitions in Madrid, Barcelona and Lausanne, being very popular among the Scandinavian public. In 1982 the disease made him unable to continue painting.
In 2005 the Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum exhibited around 80 paintings of his. It was titled The prince of Kitsch (The Prince of Kitsch). It was the first time that a venerable gallery admitted Roka into its walls.
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