MÉSZÖLY, Géza
(b. 1844, Sárbogárd, d. 1887, Jobbágyi)

Bottom of the Village

1877-82
Oil on wood, 18 x 14 cm
Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest

Mészöly's art developed evently. He worked from nature, and true to nature his works are full of poetic charm. He treats the poverty-stricken villages with unsophisticated simplicity. "The Bottom of the Village" is one of the most beautiful pieces of his oeuvre. The yellows and rusts shimmer with moisture, and the whitewashed cottages and white garments of the villagers shine out of the dark shadow of the lane. His carefully drawn, realistically painted pictures are never dull, they all pulsate with the poetic beauty of the scenery. His art is a welltuned overture to Hungarian "plein-air" painting. It is to his lasting credit that he left so many paintings of the Hungarian countryside.