Ebook: Canvas and Cult. The Art of Pál Szinyei Merse (1845–1920). Catalog of the exhibition in the Hungarian National Gallery

The life’s work of Pál Szinyei Merse, an outstanding master of nineteenth-century Hungarian painting and one of the most influential figures in Hungarian art, is the subject of the latest exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest. The exhibition of around 120 works examines the connections between the paintings in Szinyei Merse’s œuvre and the cult surrounding the artist. As the evolution of his art and the history of his cult unfold side by side, visitors are offered a new perspective on the artist’s prominent position in cultural history.

The exhibition presents Szinyei Merse’s key works in their Hungarian context and in relation to thematic and painterly parallels from the international (primarily German, Austrian and French) art scene of his times. More than twenty paintings by international artists have been kindly loaned to the show by distinguished public and private collections, including masterpieces by Monet, Sisley, Corot, Courbet and Gainsborough.