Fabri studied painting and etching at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology, both in Budapest. He received his degree in 1918, and came to the United States in 1921. He attended the Academy school for the fall term of the 1922-23 season, and spring term of the 1923-24 season--on this latter occasion, studying sculpture. Fabri became an American citizen in 1927; his work, however, reflected an eastern European folk tradition of simple, colorful forms, having a childlike character, often emphasizing semi-abstract patterns.
Fabri practiced in a wide range of media. In the 1940s his work was frequently exhibited at the George Binet Gallery, New York; his 1947 show there was of a series of watercolor and tempera paintings on the theme of art and music. He authored the history of the American Watercolor Society, published in 1966 on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of the Society. He was founder and honorary life president of the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic. However, it was as an etcher and in the graphic artist classification that he was elected to the Academy; and it was graphic techniques he taught at the Academy school in the autumn of 1950, and for a decade beginning in the autumn of 1964. He received the Anonymous Prize, awarded for a work in graphic media, in the Academy annual of 1949.
Fabri also taught at the Parsons School of Design in New York, the Newark (New Jersey) School of Fine Arts, and the City College of New York, and published a number of instructional books, including Learn to Draw (1945), Oil Painting: How To-Do-It (1953) and Sculpture in Paper: How to Design and Make Decorative Objects from Paper (1966). The latter book focuses on art education and grew out of his teaching experiences at City College.
In addition to his long service on the school faculty, Fabri was extensively involved in Academy administration as a member of Council for thirteen years. He was initially elected for a three-year term on the Council in 1949; in 1952 and 1953 he was recording secretary; in 1961 he was elected treasurer, a post to which he was annually returned through 1967. Fabri made a substantial bequest to the Academy to provide scholarships in the school, and support a prize awarded for graphic arts in Academy annual exhibitions.
