György Vastagh

After returning home from fighting in the Hungarian Revolution, his talent was noticed by a piano teacher who lived nearby, and he began taking his first lessons from a local artist.

In 1854 he went to Vienna, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and came under the influence of Carl Rahl and Friedrich von Amerling.

He refused two offers of government scholarships (one from József Eötvös) because he did not want to feel obligated to the Alexander Bach administration.

In 1876 he moved, this time taking his family to Budapest, where he set up a portrait studio that catered to aristocratic clientele.

[1][2] In 1894, he became one of the founders of the "Magyar Művészek és Műpártolók Egyesülete" (Hungarian Association of Artists and Patrons) and shortly after helped to organize the National Salon for their exhibitions.