He was sent to Baja for his primary education, and displayed an interest in drawing as a hobby. Soon, he was producing color portraits of his friends and family and saved enough money to move to Pest, where he studied at the First Hungarian Academy of painting under Jakab Marastoni.[2] He attracted the attention of Leó Festetics, who recommended him to Count Leopold Nádasdy as a drawing teacher for the Count's son. He was accepted and moved to Nádasdladány to take up his new position, still aged only seventeen.[1]
With the Count's encouragement, he went to Paris, where he obtained the patronage of Richard von Metternich, the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, by which means he was able to enroll at the Academy.[which?][2] He stayed in Paris for three years, returning to Nádasdladány in 1868, where he established himself as a painter. After a time, he wanted to return to Paris, but the Commune thwarted his plans. In 1873, he spent a year in Munich, where he found a ready market for his genre scenes.
It was there he first felt the desire to visit Italy. He toured Capri and spent some time in Rome, participating in a few exhibitions. In 1878, he returned to Munich and produced paintings showing his newly acquired Italian influences, but remained only a short time before settling permanently in Nádasdladány.[1] In addition to his canvases, he was commissioned by Count Ferenc Nádasdy (1801-1883), the former Chancellor of Transylvania, to paint an altarpiece depicting Saint Helena in memory of the Count's wife.[2]
