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Except from a few still-lifes, Samu Börtsök has painted only landscapes. Because of the demanding material needs of his family he was forced to be very productive. Nevertheless he was never acknowledged as a significant painter. Even his former tutor, Károly Ferenczy was harshly critical on him.
The late works of Szinyei Merse Pál were his sources of inspiration. Even the selection of his most important themes shows the influence of the great master. Samu Börtsök had been ill many times and while recovering, he painted the bushes, pine-trees and flower-beds of the park with the Kereszthegy (Mountain of the Crucifix) and cobalt-blue sky in the background.
The Haystacks, which was bought by the state in 1914, is unusually powerful. Maybe it was due to the bright colour of its sky; its transparent, shining air of winter; the clear lines of the haystacks; the unity ruling over the whole composition, that the painting received surprisingly good critics from the contemporaries.
Samu Börtsök was not one of the most important talents, but he created an appealing, optimistic, easily perceivable visual world. This landscape is not pessimistic either. The cold, sparkling light is smoothed by the goldish brown of the haystacks and the purple reflexes and shadows on the snow.
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