This article situates the ideas on drawing instruction of Hugó Szegedy-Maszák within the larger context of shifting trends in conceptions of art and art education. It considers the pedagogy outlined in his 1871 handbook on drawing instruction and the ideas expressed in two later essays of a more theoretical nature, which were written in part under the influence of his exposure to the ideas of American, German, and English art pedagogues at the Paris World Congress of 1900. Essentially, Hugó Szegedy-Maszák viewed art instruction not merely as an occasion to develop drawing as a practical skill, but as an opportunity to cultivate and refine taste.