Having worked as an engraver, even as a young man, János Gaál was making art requiring great precision in the hands. He became a restorer at the Museum of Ethnography in 1974. He lead the department between 1976 and 2000.
During his 33-year tenure at the museum, he tended to the restoration and often the salvage of the remaining artifacts of Hungarian culture. In addition to the relics of the furniture collection and the religious collection of the museum, he restored the furniture of various catholic and protestant churches, the Pannonhalma Archabbey and the Rákóczi Castle in Sárospatak as well. He conserved artifacts and made copies, and the objects close to his heart inspired him to create. The favorite technique of János Gaál is decorative painting.
“There are certain motives that keep me restless. These are the things that move my imagination. They inspire me to paint” he says. “One can discover Kalotaszeg, Révkomárom, Homoród, the Upper Tisza region and Southern Transdanubia in my work, but this is my work nevertheless, you can find me as well in what I make.”
He’s able to unleash his imagination when he’s creating art inspired by the museum artifacts. He’s creating his own motives, he’s not bound by the restorer’s ethics, but still, he’s able to evoke Transylvania and other regions of Historic Hungary famous for their folk art.