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

show hardly any signs of these changes. The paintings he produced between 1871 and 1873 testify to those views of society that he took with him to Paris. His pictures from this period show a direct relationship with his roots. The composition //; the Kitchen (Konyhában) was also painted at this time and a peculiarity of this picture is that it was the basis for Munkácsy's only known etching, which was completed except for the heads. The Herman Ottó Museum bought one of the prints of this etching at an auction in 1977. The series of salon paintings represents a new era in the painter's oeuvre. The painter enjoyed bourgeois affluence along with its rich accessories. This delightful and mellow world at the same time inspired him to produce a new type of full-blooded decorative painting. One of the best pictures capturing high society's atmosphere and circumstance is The Father's Birthday (Apa születésnapja), which is characterised by virtuosity in detail as well as material and objective splendour. The scene of the salon paintings is the painter's own flat in Paris, which he furnished according to the contemporary taste of high society. The museum-like environment, which we know from photographs, can be seen in the picture Two Families in the Salon (Két család a szalonban). The picture hanging opposite In the Palm House (Pálmaházban), however, was painted in Colpach, at the Munkácsy family's country mansion. This estate in Colpach served as a second studio for the painter. Pictures containing a glimpse of a verandah or a winter garden were all executed here. The next painting is a synthesis of salon painting and portraiture. Pondering Lady with a Dog (Merengő nő kutyával) shows much less of the interior than his earlier compositions. This apparent shortcoming of the picture, however, is ultimately to its advantage. The picture is one of the painter's best female portraits thanks to the compositional harmony of the figure, the space and the overall artistic effect, as well as the domestic bliss it suggests. Some of the landscapes painted in the 1880s provide a unique blend of the natural environment and the elegant world of the salon paintings. This group of paintings brought a new streak into the tradition of bourgeois genre painting. One of the most astonishing pictures of this type is A Walk in Pare Monceau (Séta a Parc Monceau-ban). The theme of the composition was literally at hand for the painter as his studio in Paris was situated next to this marvellous park. From 1880 onwards Munkácsy's interests turned towards a new artistic topic, namely the history of Jesus Christ. His first religioushistorical composition was painted the next year and was followed by two more. These are Christ before Pilate (Krisztus Pilátus előtt), Golgotha (Golgota) and Ecce homo (Ecce homo). This great trilogy subsequently received no small amount of criticism. Many people could hardly comprehend this abrupt switch of the realist master to traditional biblical themes, and found an explanation only in his material interests. We have every reason to suspect that behind the appearance of the theme of Christ there was a deeper thought process at work. For Munkácsy, Christ was a tragic hero, the son of the poor who fought his lonely battle on his own. The painter turned to biblical themes with all the enthusiastic realism of his youthful paintings. The deeply inspired scenes were painted after lengthy studies and several sketches. The half-length portrait Christ (Krisztus-mellkép) and the Screaming Youth (Ordító suhanc) present the two most important characters in the first piece of the trilogy. The Hangman with his Ladder (Hóhér lajtorjával) was painted in preparation for Golgotha (Golgota). All three pictures are excellent examples of Munkácsy's talent for character drawing.