Leda and the Swan (around 1916)

Franciska Pál studied at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1908 and 1910, where her master was Viktor Tardos Krenner. She then attended the Grand Chaumiéret, Lucien Simon's academy in Paris. 'But because I could never paint at school, I went to Augustin Carrera, the renowned Parisian painter, who accepted me as an extraordinary pupil. But not for money, but just for the sake of my talent', Paul wrote in the Pesti Napló in 1912.  Already in 1911 she wrote a letter to Iványi, and like her friend Józsa Járitz, she probably worked in Kecskemét between 1914 and 1917 under the guidance of Iványi Grünwald Béla, while attending his private school in Pest. In 1927, she exhibited in a studio exhibition in Budapest. She was a member of the Association of Hungarian Women Artists.

Franciska Pál added in the above-mentioned Pesti Napló article that she was most attracted by figurative art and the Renaissance. The Leda and the Swan is an example of this interest. The Renaissance reworked ancient mythological stories with great force, if only because it was the only way to paint female nudes. In Greek mythology, Leda was the legendary queen of Sparta, daughter of King Thestius, wife of King Tyndareos. Zeus of all mortals caught the eye of Leda's beauty and one day seduced the queen in the form of a swan. Leda was frightened by her husband's wrath, and to clear her own conscience she slept with Tyndareos that night. Soon four children were born. Leda gave birth to two swan eggs, from which her children hatched. Two of them were from Zeus and two from Tyndareos. Thus, Helen (Helen the Fair) and Polydeuces were immortal, while Clytemnestra and Castor were mortal. Paul marks the moment of metamorphosis with the swan-like figure of the two naked bodies merging. The painting follows the decorative style and recurring theme of its master, Iványi Grünwald, with female nudes, or variations of nudes, placed in the landscape.