לאיוש ברוק

Lajos Bruck (1846-1910), painter, born in Papa, Hungary (then part of the Austrian Empire), elder brother of the painter Miksa Bruck. At the age of 15 he came to Budapest, where he studied under various artists. In 1865 he was admitted at the Vienna Academy and studied there under Geiger and Wurzinger. In 1869, a governmental stipend enabled him to go to Venice, Italy, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Art under Molmenti. He first came to public notice with his painting "Before the Rialto Bridge". After spending some time in Rome and Naples, and various cities of Germany, Holland and Belgium, he settled in Paris, France, in 1874 where for a time he worked with Mihaly Munkacsy, but remained relatively unknown. In 1886 he moved to London, England, where his talent as a portrait painter were appreciated and he was much in demand. In 1894 he returned with his family to Budapest.

In 1899, an exhibition of Hungarian painters was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened by Czar Nicolay II, who in appreciation awarded Bruck a knighthood. Bruck's most important paintings are "The Trip to Town" (1877), "Loneliness" (1879), "View of Budapest", "The Quartet Rehearsal" and "The Postmaster".