László Paál

Mme Renée Donath, Paris
Purchased from the above by the grandfather of the present owner in 1959

This painting is in good condition and is ready to hang. The canvas has been relined. Ultraviolet light reveals only minimal scattered spots of retouching primarily in the foliage, and a minor 1cm possible repair in the upper-right quadrant. The varnish fluoresces more opaquely over the foliage suggesting the work may have been selectively cleaned in the past. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Major works by Paál rarely appear at auction. Many are in Hungary's public collections, and those in private hands are few given that Paál died aged just thirty-three. Thus the appearance of lots 20 and 21, painted at the height of his career, marks an important rediscovery.

A descendant of a Hungarian aristocratic family, László de Paál studied landscape painting under Albert Zimmermann at the Vienna Academy. It was here that he met his lifelong friends Eugen Jettel, Emil Jakob Schindler and Mihály Munkácsy, whom he followed to Düsseldorf in 1871 and Paris in 1872. He was greatly influenced by the work of Courbet and the painters of the Barbizon School, which he had already encountered at the French exhibition in Munich in 1869. After he had settled in Paris, Paál spent six months of each year at Barbizon, painting the local scenery. Inspired equally by the rural milieu and the artistic environment in which he found himself, Paal’s depiction of nature displays the soft brushwork and tonal qualities which characterised the productions of this artistic movement. Paal deploys these techniques in both of these works to capture the animation of the woodland treetops in the face of a storm.

Paál's career, cut short by his untimely death, reached its peak between 1875 and 1877. His works influenced not only Munkacsy, Jettel and Schindler, but also Max Liebermann and the Swedish expressionist Carl Frederic Hill. They appreciated his particular sense of drama, which was regarded as a Hungarian characteristic stemming from his emotional response to memories of home. Although appreciated abroad as an individual and influential painter of the Barbizon School, in Hungary Paál was hardly known before an exhibition of his work held in 1902.