MUNKÁCSY Mihály
(1844–1900)

PARC MONCEAU AT NIGHT

1895
Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Inv. no. 2574

Munkácsy’s studio and home were located in one of the most elegant areas of Paris, the fashionable artists’ district in the vicinity of Parc Monceau. One of the painter’s last works, the Parc Monceau at Night, shows the famous Parisian park in the nocturnal light. The work brought him into association with the trend of atmospheric symbolism towards the end of his life. In terms of its atmosphere and approach, this enigmatic, dream-like cityscape can be compared to the symbolist pastel depicting a park at night painted by his former pupil, József Rippl-Rónai, roughly at the same time and likewise in Paris.

RIPPL-RÓNAI József: A Park at Night
1892–1895
© RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski