 He displayed an early talent for art and his first lessons came from Pál Böhm in Arad.Upon his father's request, he went to Vienna in 1864 to study law, but began preparatory studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and became a student of Albert Zimmermann in 1866.Three years later, he participated in a major exhibition in Munich, where he first came into contact with painters of the Barbizon school.