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Fényes painted "The Life of a Poor Man", a series of about 60 pictures, on the influence of "Arme Leute Malerei", a trend in German art at the turn of the century. He portrayed exhausted, worried and old people, widows and mothers embracing their children protectively, in pictures of gloomy colours. A typical early composition of this series is "Day Labourer". Fényes managed to condense a life-style into the posture and eyes of the barefooted man although he did not depict his surroundings. Shades of brown, contrasts of widely painted patches and character portrayal remind us of Munkácsy's influence. The series is a manifestation of Fényes' deep sympathy for art. "I did not paint my pictures as an artist, but as a man. I was more involved in social aspects than artistic ones. I thought that I could perhaps stir up well-to-do people visiting art galleries if I laid facts before them ...", he said.
His choice of subject matter was not unique in contemporary Hungarian art. At the turn of the sectury, Vaszary, Glatz, Kernstok and Zemplényi were also interested in poor people. Fényes' "Day Labourer" and Vaszary's "Manservant" have much in common.
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