The painter who was born in a well off family in Somogy County followed the notions of Kossuth. After graduating as a lawyer, he studied at Simon Hollósy and the Julian Academy in Paris where he get acquainted with Rippl-Rónai. He obtained a studio in Paris but he spent the summers at home in Somogytúr.

He moved to Budapest in 1900. In his writings, he declared the freedom of modern art. The Association of Fine Art entrusted him with the organization of an exhibition of the works of French and American painters. He was awarded the French Legion of Honors. In 1943, he moved to Somogytúr where he began farming. Many of his happy pictures show the landscape of the area of Somogy, genre-paintings, or still lives. Throughout the war his home was rummaged, his pictures were scattered, and he lost his land. He retired and lived isolated in his cottage. His studio was declared museum in his lifetime.

Lajos Kunffy was a significant figure of the Hungarian painting at the turn of the century. His intentions, just like those of the painters of the school of Nagybánya who worked at the same period, was to show the beauty of the natural view soaked with sunshine and air, in one word 'Plein-air'. The most important locations of his art were Kaposvár, Munics, Paris, Somogytúr, and Budapest. Kunffy exhibited his works in the Salon d'Automne in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.

He went to Madrid, Taormina, and Tunis to learn to color his pictures, but he found the solution, the inspiration in Somogytúr: he discovered the longhaired, dark skinned gypsies in their motley cloths. The exotic affect that appeared in the art of Kunffy made him very popular in Paris. His art deepened with the representation of the festivities and work of the people of Somogy. His most important work is titled 'Funeral of a Child'. He made good use of his interest in naturalism in his portraits and self-portraits.