Pál Szinyei Merse, 1845 – 1920

PRAYING WOMAN, PRIESTS AND NUNS INSIDE THE CHURCH Oil on canvas. 44.5 x 29 cm. Signed lower right. Realistic Impressionist composition in which the subdued light of the interior is atmospherically accentuated. The influence of his painter friends W. Leibl and G. Max can be recognized here. Like many of his colleagues from the Slavic region, the Hungarian painter studied in Munich under Sándor (Alexander) Wagner and from 1867-69 under Karl von Piloty. His circle of friends included Arnold Böcklin, Gabriel Max, Wilhelm Leibl and Hans Makart. Like Leibl, he turned to realistic painting. Awarded numerous prizes in Paris, Munich and St. Louis, in Berlin and Rome, he became director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. After his death, an artists' society was founded in his name. Provenance: Sotheby's, June 1984, lot 294. Literature: Cf. Gabriella Szvoboda Dománszky, Szinyei Merse Pál, 2014. A.R. (14008537) (11) Pál Szinyei Merse, 1845 - 1920 PRAYING WOMAN, PRIESTS, AND NUNS IN A CHURCH INTERIOR Oil on canvas. 44.5 x 29 cm. Signed lower right. Provenance: Sotheby's, June 1984, lot 294. Literature: cf. Gabriella Szvoboda Dománszky, Szinyei Merse Pál, 2014.