Rumanian Family Going to the Fair

Mikl�s Barab�s was the first of the nineteenth-century Hungarian painters to contend with the more difficult circumstances of Hungary, and after study trips to Vienna and Italy, he finally settled in Pest in 1855. He won the great support of the literary and political leaders of the Reform Age, and was undeniably a pioneer of Hungarian national art. He was a founder and active member of art life in Hungary, and the beginings of Hungarian genre painting are also linked with his name.

He painted The Rumanian peasant family, dressed in folk costume, with great care and fine observation, setting them in the magnificent landscape of his native Transylvania. With justification this picture was considered the most beautiful folk genre painting of its time. It met with great success at the 1844 exhibition of the Vienna Art Association, and later in Pest. In 1846, the Pest journal “Honder�” reported with great enthusiasm that the picture had been bought by the Hungarian Civilian Guard of Pest for the National Joseph Picture Gallery. The donation can still be seen on the inscription on the frame.