GULÁCSY Lajos
Budapest, 1882 – Budapest, 1932

Return of the Pilgrims, 1908

The career of Lajos Gulácsy, the singular, solitary figure of Hungarian Secessionist symbolism, lasted barely two decades. His art was characterised by a yearning to flee the present, seeking refuge in bygone centuries or in imaginary dreamworlds. He escaped in both time and space, and found inspirational surroundings in the small towns of Italy, where the medieval atmosphere was still preserved. Between 1902 and 1915, not including some brief interludes, he spent close to thirteen years in the Mediterranean climes of northern Italy.
The desire for a more idyllic way of living, the general attitude towards life that pervaded his age, is clearly expressed in this painting. In this enchanting picture, nature, the built environment and humankind are fused together with a pantheistic approach. Gulácsy selected devices from the Secessionist vocabulary to create a surface constructed out of decorative patches of colour and an overall arcing design of motifs transposed into ornaments, yet the colour harmony of red and green also enabled the artist to convey inner emotions.