Gyula Tornai (1861-1928) was born in 1861 in a small town in Hungary known as Görgö.  He began his artistic career seeking a formal education in the academies in Vienna, Munich and Budapest where he studied under prominent artists such as Hans Makart and Gyula Benczúr.

Tornai's style was heavily influenced by Makart's aestheticism and tonality known as Makartstil ("Makart's style" in German).  The vibrantly colored and theatrical, large-scale paintings held a lasting effect on Tornai and are evident in the complex nature of many of his works.

Tornai began his career painting numerous genre scenes, however after his travels to more exotic locales, his choice of subjects changed dramatically.  His early visit to Tangier, Morocco, in 1890-91, provided him with new motifs to explore.

In 1900 he exhibited many of the works he completed abroad at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.  Their immense success provided Tornai with the financial ability to continue his explorations and provoked him to travel for an extended period of time through China, Japan and India.  Tornai often designed the frames for his paintings to complement the subject matter.