Artwork
The Music Room
The Music Room is an oil painting by the Realist artist Mihály Munkácsy. It dates from 1890 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The Music Room is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel support, measuring 88.
The Music Room is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel support, measuring 88.9 cm in height by 116.8 cm in width. The choice of panel is consistent with the intimate domestic genre subject, allowing for the smooth, refined surface treatment needed to render the interior scene with precision. The composition arranges its figures, a woman, a man, and a dog, around a piano within a domestic interior, with the horizontal panel format suiting the lateral spread of the figures and furnishings across the room. The painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The Music Room was painted by Mihaly Munkacsy in 1890. The work is executed in oil on panel, measuring 88.9 cm in height by 116.8 cm in width, and depicts a domestic interior featuring a woman, a man, a dog, and a piano, consistent with Munkacsy's thematic focus on social and musical gatherings. The painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains.
The available sources do not specify an accession number, acquisition date, prior ownership history, or exhibition history for the work.
Overview
Mihály Munkácsy, a Hungarian painter, completed The Music Room in 1890 using oil paint. This realist genre scene captures an intimate domestic interior, populated by several women, a child, and a dog, gathered around a piano. The work is part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, showcasing the artist's ability to depict everyday life with a sense of quiet dignity.
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays a crowded, comfortable domestic space where several women engage in quiet activities. One woman plays the piano, its white keys a focal point, while another holds a baby. A dog rests on the floor near a woman in a blue dress.
The room's dark, cluttered ambiance, filled with plants, books, and ornate furniture, suggests a lived-in environment dedicated to leisure and family life.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Mihály Munkácsy (Hungarian pronunciation:; 20 February 1844 – 1 May 1900) was a Hungarian painter. He earned international reputation with his genre pictures and large-scale biblical paintings.
