Gyula Aggházy

Gyula Aggházy painted Hungarian village life and the landscape around Lake Balaton, so much that he became known as the Balaton painter. His genre scenes of weddings, musicians and farm work are warm and anecdotal, while his landscapes of cows by the lake and blossoming orchards are gentle and light-filled.

Born in Dombóvár, he studied in Vienna and at the Munich Academy, and later worked with Mihály Munkácsy in Paris. He earned a living for a while as a violinist at the National Theatre, which may explain his fondness for musicians in his paintings. From 1887 he taught at the College of Applied Arts in Budapest, and in 1897 he became a professor at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts.

His work is in the Hungarian National Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. Look for the lively groups of villagers in his wedding scenes.