Illustration april 14, 1895 sunday gazette. ". I asked him to show me his latest works, and the master showed me around his studio. First of all, we looked at «strike». This is munkácsy's latest painting. In a dark pub, a loquacious orator stands at a table and explains something strongly to the audience. It is a very exciting and moving picture. The orator tries to convince the audience of the truth of his statement, as can be seen from the faces, he succeeds in this, because the figures waving their fists and waving their hats demonstrate that they agree with the speaker. On the right side of the picture sits a worker, with his wife and little daughter. He ponders whether he should join the movement; he has a family to support, and if he doesn't work today, what will they eat tomorrow?
the shapes are very distinctive. I have seen many speakers and observed many listeners, but i have never seen a workers' leader cut from a tree and such a grateful audience. It's impossible to be a more typical populist in reality. Munkácsy's element is the moving, bustling crowd. His groups are well organized, his figures are expressive, and his performance is masterful. In any case, it is a significant work in the master's series of genre pictures. It is already completely ready, it is in a decorative frame in the studio and will be exhibited at this year's salon. It has not yet appeared anywhere in copy. It can be expected that it will have a great impact. To the right of the «strike», also framed, is a painting entitled «christ and the grieving women», which terebes made for the andrássy mausoleum. It depicts the scene when, after the crucifixion of christ, the crowd leaves the scene, and only the relatives remain, mourning the dear dead. This is, as it were, a continuation of munkácsy's painting titled golgotha, but only in terms of its subject, because the situation is completely different and new. A huge picture with life-size figures. In this painting, the master once again shows his art in all its perfection and the extraordinary illuminating power that so uniquely characterizes his pictures. Its grouping is rounded, and on the one hand, the magnificent coloring, on the other hand, the proportional harmony of the composition itself delights in it. The title of munkácsy's latest painting is: "ecce homo", and it depicts the scene when the corpse of christ is shown to the eager crowd from a balcony. Even so, it is only a sketch, and even so it is only a beginning, because the figures are only drawn in outlines and the masses of light are separated from the dark tones by a single color; but even in this easily dismissed drawing there is already a tragic effect. Above on the balcony is the corpse of christ, around it the indifferent pribék, and below the crowded, bustling, shouting, jubilant and curious mass of people shows that something extremely important and of universal interest to the entire audience must have happened here. . " (istván szánthai) (source: vasárnapi ujság, april 14, 1895). Date: 1895.
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