Gyula Aggházy

In 1874 due to a serious illness, he returned to Hungary and after a short stay in Szolnok (a popular gathering spot for painters), he travelled to Paris where he was a pupil of Mihály Munkácsy.

His picture "Terefere" won the György Ráth prize of 100 gold (1881), his work "Wedding" received the London Artists' Silver Medal (1908).

In the summer of 1875, he returned to Hungary, worked for a while in Budapest, and then at the beginning of 1876 he moved to the artist colony in Szolnok, where he spent almost a whole decade studying Hungarian folk life.

[1] In 1885, he spent two months in Italy, studying the fine art collections of Venice, Florence and Rome, the works of the old masters.

Between 1887-1896 he was a teacher at the College of Applied Arts, and from 1897 at the Model Drawing School, he was respected as a master by, among others, Sándor Pazsiczky (1881-1955), Jenő Keményffy (1875-1920), Oszkár Mendlik (1871-1963).

His famous students at the School of Model Drawing and then at the College of Fine Arts included Lipót Ács, Gizella Barabás, Gusztáv Hénel, József Jászay, Kata Kalivoda, Alfréd Lakos, Albert Nyáry, Sándor Pataky and more.

His glass negatives are in the custody of the family, the enlargements made of them can be found in the Data Library of the Hungarian National Gallery along with his genre works in the Naturalist style which were very popular.

Gyula Aggházy created the exquisite landscapes of one of the most beautiful rooms of the Opera House, the upstairs gallery of the King's Staircase.

One of the side altars of the baroque church in Tarany (Somogy) is decorated with Gyula Aggházy's painting entitled "Mary's Ascension".

At the Winter Exhibition of 2008, the royal palace bought his oil painting "Four-wheel tug at the moonlight", and his picture "Part from Lovranó" also found a buyer.