▁In ▁ 1 8 7 4 , ▁he ▁returned ▁to ▁Budapest ▁and ▁soon ▁became ▁popular ▁with ▁the ▁arist ocracy , ▁so ▁he ▁continued ▁to ▁do ▁port ra its ▁along ▁with ▁paint ings ▁of ▁their ▁favorite ▁dogs ▁and ▁horses . ▁ ▁Sing ing ▁career ▁ ▁By ▁ 1 8 8 0 , ▁he ▁was ▁successful ▁enough ▁to ▁buy ▁an ▁old ▁church , ▁where ▁he ▁set ▁up ▁apart ments ▁and ▁a ▁studio . ▁Unfortunately , ▁the ▁amount ▁of ▁work ▁he ▁had ▁been ▁doing ▁created ▁a ▁severe ▁case ▁of ▁e y est rain ▁and , ▁on ▁his ▁doctor ' s ▁advice , ▁he ▁gave ▁up ▁painting ▁for ▁a ▁while . ▁R ather ▁than ▁remain ▁in active , ▁he ▁began ▁to ▁take ▁singing ▁less ons . ▁In ▁ 1 8 8 3 , ▁encourag ed ▁by ▁his ▁friends ▁and ▁family , ▁he ▁sold ▁his ▁studio ▁( which ▁later ▁became ▁a ▁church ▁again ) ▁and ▁tou red ▁Germany ; ▁performing ▁in ▁several ▁major ▁cities , ▁including ▁We imar , ▁singing ▁opera ▁a rias . ▁He ▁eventually ▁learned ▁thirty ▁different ▁oper atic ▁roles ▁and ▁was ▁especially ▁successful ▁with ▁the ▁works ▁of ▁Richard ▁Wagner . ▁Düsseldorf ▁became ▁his ▁base ▁of ▁operations ▁and ▁he ▁spent ▁his ▁sum mers ▁in ▁Nord kir chen , ▁at ▁the ▁E ster há zy ▁est ates . ▁ ▁Once ▁that ▁he ▁felt ▁his ▁eyes ▁had ▁sufficiently ▁recovered , ▁he ▁had ▁sheep ▁brought ▁to ▁Düsseldorf ▁and ▁started ▁painting ▁again . ▁With ▁the ▁help ▁of ▁Prince ▁Nikol aus , ▁he ▁was ▁able ▁to ▁re - est ab lish