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Szinyei made friends with Böcklin, who was also working in Munich. Szinyei asked for Böcklin's advice when he painted "Picnic in May", which can be considered as his most significant picture. The picture shows a group of people sitting on a hill. They are enyoying the cool shadow of a tree off the picture. The picture gives the same impression as those of French impresssionists, only the technique is different. He painted the landscape from memory in his studio, leaving the place for the figures which he painted one by one after models at various times. The figure who is lying on a blanket and eating a leg of chicken is the painter himself.
The picture did not have a favourable acceptance: his fellow artists and even Böcklin did not appreciate it. Szinyei wanted to give it as a present to the Hungarian National Museum, but it did not accept it. The painter and his picture were not appreciated until the Millennium Exhibition in 1896.
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