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War and fascism broke the career of István Farkas, a talented artist. Farkas, who was only 15 years old when he began to learn to paint, was a pupil of László Mednyánszky. He studied at the Art School, Budapest, then in Munich and later in Nagybánya. He lived in Paris in 1929-32. After returning to Hungary, he painted visionary pictures full of emotions. He used tempera, thus his colours became subdued and mystic. In his landscapes, he painted trees barren of leaves, desolate houses and musing, unstable figures, which made his pictures approach surrealism. His figural pictures painted during the war are tragic anticipations of death and inescapable fate. "Landscape at Dusk" reflects the artist's distress.
One has the impression as if life had come to a standstill. Trees have no leaves and the light at sunset projects depressing shadows on the hills. Figures are shadows only which also suggest death, and so do trees. This sinister picture, however, produces a harmony where Farkas hoped to find peace and shelter in a chaotic world.
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