 In 1834-1835 he traveled to Italy, where he learned watercolor painting from the Scottsman William Leighton Leitch who was six years his senior; they became friends and toured and painted in the Lago Maggiore region in 1834, and Leitch was a great influence on Barabás's future work.He finally settled in Pest in 1855.He won the great support of the literary and political leaders of the Reform Age, and was undeniably a pioneer of Hungarian national art.