Nándor Katona

Born to a large, impoverished, Hungarian–Jewish family, Nándor Katona showed a precocious talent for visual art as a child. After his parents realized he was a prodigy, he began studying painting at an art school in Budapest before transferring to one in Paris. After his formal training, Katona embarked on a series of journeys throughout Western Europe in order to both establish an international reputation and study foreign works.

Katona worked during the turn of the 19th century, a moment of industrialization throughout Europe, and primarily painted quaint landscapes that show no indication of a specific time or place. These images were pleasing, nostalgic images to any city-dwelling European who had once lived in the country. Today, many of his works are kept in the The Hungarian National Gallery, while others have sold in private auctions.