The colony started as a summer retreat for artists, mainly painters from Simon Hollósy's szabadiskola (Free School) in Munich.

The colony attracted many artists from Hungary interested in learning the plein-air style taught by Hollósy in the bright atmosphere of Nagybánya.

[1][3] Through the course of its existence the teachers and students worked in the emerging modern styles such as Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, and Symbolism.

[1] The colony in Nagybánya continued under the administration of the four remaining founders and renamed the Ingyenes festőiskola (Free Painting School).

In the 1910s attendance at Nagybánya continued but lagged due to World War I and the difficulty of travel.