Painter. First a pupil of Bertalan Székely in the School of Decorative Art, he studied at Simon Hollósy in Munich and at the Julian Academy in Paris. "People Suffering", his first important picture, inspired by Zola's naturalism, came from 1891, which was soon followed by "Awakening". He finished "The Arad Martyrs", his most significant work on Hungarian history, in 1896 which was not exhibited in the Millenium Art Gallery in spite of its great popularity. "Peace Be with You", a picture on Christ, shows Rembrandt's influence.

He started to paint "Rise up, Hungarian" in 1898 which he meant to be his life-work (he worked on it for 20 years). Of the pictures to follow ("Among Coachmen", 1901, "At the End of September" 1903, "Card Players", 1904, "Gypsies", 1905, "Picking Violets", 1920, and "Picnic in May", 1921), "October 1st" (1903) is his best-known work.

Initially a follower of French naturalism, he was under Munkácsy's influence, and tried to unite principles of romantic and naturalist painting. From the 1920s, he was a typical representative of the Nagybánya school. Thorma, a founder of the Nagybánya school (1896), was a teacher, then the leader of the Nagybánya school from 1919. Some of his other works: "Summer", "March 15th", "The Recapture of Buda Castle" and his "Self-Portrait".