He took fancy to painting from the painter Rauscher Lajos and Székely Árpád, Székely Bertalan's son. He met the baron Mednyánszky László in the war. Mednyánszky also did war paintings. 'In 1916 I was at the Russian Front when the adjutant took an interesting old man to the camp. The commanders entrusted me to take care of him. The old man was Mednyánszky László, the excellent Hungarian painter. I moved him to my barrack and he stayed for a few months'. The time they spent together was spent with lots of conversations so the young artist could learn of Mednyánszky's work method, artistic intentions, personality that influenced him greatly.