Pál Szinyei Merse

Pál Szinyei Merse was the pioneer of open air painting in Hungary. His pictures are full of bright daylight and fresh colour: green meadows, blue skies, flowering spring and figures relaxing in the sun, painted at a time when this approach was still new in Central Europe.

Born in Szinyeújfalu in Upper Hungary, he studied at the Munich Academy under Karl von Piloty, and there met Wilhelm Leibl, who encouraged him to paint outdoors. His best known painting, Picnic in May (1873), found little understanding at first, and after further disappointments he gave up painting in 1882. A retrospective in 1894 brought recognition, he took up his brushes again, and from 1905 he headed the Hungarian school of fine arts in Budapest. His major works are in Budapest.

Awakening of Spring and Balloon show his clear light and his love of simple, sunny outdoor moments.