On 24 January,we opened our chamber exhibition showing four paintings by Laszlo Mednyánszky at the Munkácsy Memorial House. The exhibition is part of the festive series.Hungarian Cultural Festival.

The material is small, but the more significant, since the audience has not seen so many pictures by Mednyánszky in Békéscsaba. In addition, these paintings used to be the possession of the Kossuth Prize-winning painter Barcsay. He inherited a total of 17 protected Mednyánszky pictures on the Damjanich János Museum in Szolnok. He believed that the Damjanich János Museum will provide a showing of the paintings to the general public and shall provide information on them as well.

The museum's collection had had several of Mednyánszky's painting, graphics and even his diary before. With this gift, the collection grew thematically and became an overall collection of the oeuvre of Mednyánszky. It become suitable to be shown as independent exhibition, with some material added.

Mednyánszky - generally known - was related to artistic life in Szolnok, to the colony the founding of which was due to his contribution through his signing official documents. He first visited the Great Plain while travelling in the country. He worked in Szolnok twice, in 1877 and 1880. spent a whole winter in the town with Lajos Ébner Deak.

" Mednyánszky art was rich colours, with a range of emotional , sensitivity, endless fog landscapes, tramps on his canvases , miserable outcasts of society . he was familiar with all layers of society in the period he live in. Therefore, his suffering soldiers in the war, poor people in queue, highwayman, vagrants in his pictures, which show dramatic tension and human compassion are authentic." - reads lines by Tálas László. This content shows similarities with Munkácsy's art.

Munkácsy was and Mednyánszky were contemporaries, they met several times in Paris. Mednyánszky often visited Munkácsy 's studio, but it did not become one of his students , he rather walked his own path.

The Damjanich János Museum of Szolnok - fulfilling the master Barcsay's will - continues to promote Mednyánszky's art by presenting the works 'Resting Vagabond', 'Old Man Sitting on the Bench', 'Man Standing' and the wonderful 'Snowy Winter Landscape with Trees'. We would like to express our appreciation for that.