Pirint Andrea: Munkácsy Miskolcon (Múzeumi Mozaik 5. Miskolc, 2006)

a profound change in his painting style, although the theme is reminiscent of old memories. The autobiographical relevance of the painting takes us back to Munkácsy's childhood. He was hardly older than six when he lost his mother. Soon his father also died and the orphan went to live with his uncle in Békéscsaba. His foster-father was very strict as in his view this was how he could prepare the boy for life. He thought the child was unsuitable for intellectual work so he made him an apprentice. Munkácsy was barely over ten when he had already gained enough painful experiences for a lifetime. The Yawning Apprentice (Ásító inas) is symbolic of the spiritual and physical fatigue he had already experienced as a child. The four years of his apprenticeship had a determining influence on his life. He could get a close-up view of both physically demanding work and what it felt like to be a social outcast. His own life put him in line with the poor. The outstanding masterpieces of his oeuvre were born as emblems of this shared fate. The opening painting of these masterpieces is The Last Day of a Condemned Man (Siralomház), followed by Lintmaking (Tépéscsinálók) and Night-time Wanderers (Éjjeli csavargók) and in 1874 The Pawnbroker's Shop (Zálogház). The Bohemian (A bohém) and Old Woman with Pad (Öregasszony mappával) were studies for The Pawnbroker's Shop (Zálogház). This large composition presents people of different type who all share the necessity that they have to change their precious valuables for money. It is characteristic of Munkácsy's method that he studied each figure in great detail before he painted the dramatic picture. One of the most beautiful studies is the Old Woman with Pad (Öregasszony mappával), which despite its sketchy finish leaves the impression of a finished picture. The next pictures exemplify the early period of Munkácsy's landscape painting. In 1873 the painter spent a few weeks in picturesque Barbizon, near Paris, the place that had captured several painters' hearts and inspired a unique style of landscape painting. Munkácsy found the magic of the natural environment invigorating and despite being a fullyfledged figurative painter, the medium of landscape became one of his favourites. The artist was invited to Barbizon by his old friend László Paál, who exclusively painted landscapes. The picture Part of a wood with two figures (Erdőrészlet két alakkal) is a prominent example of the painters being not only friends but also sharing the same artistic views. The composition leads us into the secret depths of the wood and reminds the viewer of the best and most unique paintings of László Paál. The presentation of the picture is light and vibrating and the spectacle is just as enjoyable as in Paál's own pictures. However, even here Munkácsy was unable to give up figurative painting. The two sketchy figures demonstrate man's presence, symbolic as it may be. Few pictures can be proved beyond doubt to have been painted in Barbizon, but one of them is Gypsies by the woods (Cigányok az erdőszélen). The intense green colour aptly demonstrates plein-air painting as opposed to studio painting. The refined nature of the painting lends the picture particularly special significance. The Washerwomen (Mosónők) was painted seven years later, although its antecedents go back to the early 1870s. The artist was fond of painting washerwomen in his landscapes. These characters inspired the painter both for the sympathy he felt for their laborious work as well as the fact that their spectacle was part and parcel of any village scene by a river. The oeuvre is rich in variations on this theme and they successfully blend landscape and peasant genre painting. In 1871 Munkácsy moved to Paris. Despite finding himself in a totally different milieu in France, one which compelled a fundamental change in all the factors shaping his art, the first products of the Paris years