Sketch of Paganism with the figure of Ninon Szinyei Merse
1869
Graphite on paper, 459 x 295 mm
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
His early mythological allegoric pictures show the influence of Böcklin and his trip to Italy. They have a strong, almost "art nouveau" design. The loose, free sketches, simple records of a motion or idea, have none of the effect of the full-scale works.
On the same page as the studies he made for "Paganism" is an earlier sketch for a portrait of his sister, Ninon.