MEDNYÁNSZKY, László
(1852, Beckó - 1919, Vienna)

Head of a Tramp

after 1905
Oil on canvas, 59 x 45 cm
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Mednyánszky focused his attention on portraying tragic events of life and poverty. He was in this respect Dostoevski's and Gorki's counterpart in painting. "Tramps" condenses the intellectual and pictorial value of Mednyánszky's art. The tramp is facing us in front of a yellowish-brown background, and is turning the head slightly to the right. His dark hair is umcombed, and his mouth is open. When Mednyánszky painted this portrait, he wanted to portray mental state and fate rather than man in the traditional sense of the word. The portrait is an upsetting picture of a man condemned to suffer. The picture with the inherent artistic truth criticizes Mednyánszky's age from a social point of view.


Please send your comments, sign our guestbook and send a postcard.
Created and maintained by Emil Krén and Dániel Marx; sponsored by the T-Systems Hungary Ltd.