Rococo Prince in Blue (Around 1912)

Gulácsy felt himself a stranger in the world of the 20th century, he despised technical civilization, and was repelled by the utilitarian outlook of the modern age. Whenever he could, he travelled to Italy; he liked to wander around Verona, Padua, Siena and other ancient Italian cities. Ignoring the wondering glances of passers-by and the taunts of street children, he wandered the narrow alleys day and night in Renaissance costume.

At the turn of the 1910s, Gulácsy dedicated an entire period to the French Rococo: a whole series of fragile figures evoke Watteau's airily light, yet theatrically refined gallant scenes. The sweet, artful chivalry of the Rococo is transcribed as a playful, childlike, yet strange, irrational and visionary vision. The caricature-like movements of the figures in the empty space make them participants in a marionette. Gradually, the rococo play is interwoven with a quest to reveal the dark side of the soul and a tragic sense of life. The idea of passing and the mythical evocation of death are transformed into visions of gloom and expressive artistic power.