Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
manly world of the Hungarian “Wild West” - the Great Plain southeast of Budapest. Both are
by
KárolyLotz
, better known for his frescoes around the city, such as in the Mátyás Church,
Opera House and Parliament. Wing B devotes a section to works by
Mihály Munkácsy
and
László Paál
, exhibited together since both painted landscapes - though Paál did little else,
whereas Munkácsy was internationally renowned for pictures with a social message (
The
Last Day of a Condemned Man
,
Tramps of the Night
) and bravura historical works like
The
Conquest
(in the Parliament building).
Impressionism
was introduced to Hungary by
Pál Szinyei Merse
, whose models and sub-
jects - such as in
A Picnic in May
- were cheerfully bourgeois. Nearby you'll find two lu-
minous landscapes by the prolific
László Mednyánszky
-
Watering-place
and
Fishing on
the Tisza
- and paintings from the
Nagybányaschool
, an influential artists' colony in what is
now Baia Mare in Romania. Look out for peasants discussing
The Country's Troubles
, by the
school's guru,
SimonHollósy
, who quit during a spiritual crisis; a cheerful
Drying the Laun-
dry
, by his successor
Béla Iványi Grünwald
; and
Boys Throwing Pebbles
, by the school's
most adept pupil,
Károly Ferenczy
.
There's more of their work on the next floor, off towards Wing D. Midway up the
stairs
hang three canvases by the visionary
Tivadar Kosztka Csontváry
, whose obsession with
the Holy Land and the “path of the sun” inspired scenes such as
Pilgrimage to the Cedars
in Lebanon
and the vast
Ruins of the Greek Theatre at Taormina
, with its magical twilight
colours.
