István Genthon, one of the first monographers of the painter described the villa and the surroundings as follows:

“The well-tended chestnut trees, the blossoming zinnia and salvia beds, the Baroque style statues, which graced the lawn together with sculptor Medgyessy’s carvings, spoke of a delicate taste. Further down hazel bushes and birch grew, followed by the vineyard, all according to the master’s fancy. The rich ruby colour of the wine produced in the vineyard looked like it was mixed on the painter’s palette.”

During the past years, roughly 20,000 daffodils plants were planted in the garden involving volunteers -various local associations, so the amazing flower display in spring is the result of the joint efforts of the local community of Kaposvár. This is a heart-warming experience for all, a special present, if you like, and since 2014, a one-day festival has been organised around the daffodil flowering to revive the atmosphere of the Art Nouveau period. The Art Nouveau themed programmes include plays and games for children, arts &crafts fair, lectures for the public and involve artists and art students, civil associations and craftsmen alike.

The landscaped park surrounding the villa is an attraction all year round and is open to the public. It is a favourite with young mothers with children, newly married couples, children and adults, alone or in groups. The park, where great artists lived and worked a hundred years ago, is now one of the locals’ favourite haunts. In 2012 a new project was launched to renovate the original villa plus a new visitor centre was added. However, the focus was not only on buildings. To bring the painter’s garden back to its former glory, we replanted the vineyard, planted fruit trees and thousands of daffodil bulbs following Rippl-Rónai’s ideas. We maintained those unkempt parts of the garden which provided some welcome cover for the painter and his nude models while he worked on his nude paintings – this was a rather unusual thing at the time in Hungary.

Regular visitors to the villa included the painter’s family: his parents, brothers and other relatives, but the surroundings also attracted his artist friends from Budapest. Famous painters, poets and writers frequented the place who not only relaxed in the park but found inspiration to work here. The new environment brought about a change in Rippl-Rónai’s art. The park, the wonderful natural surroundings of the Somogy hills, the everyday life on his estate offered a wealth of new topics to capture.

In 1908 he bought the Róma Villa where his social life blossomed. He often hosted the greatest artists of the era and the building and its surrounding park served as a background for his paintings in „cornfield style”. In May 2016 visitors of city of Kaposvár could see an interesting exhibition of Rippl-Rónai – although, not in an ordinary showroom, but on twenty billboards placed along the main roads leading to the city. This was the first thematically organised exhibition in Hungary appearing on advertising boards.

Increasing the conceptual nature of the campaign, souvenirs were produced in accordance with the visual language of the exhibition. Unlike the traditional way of purchasing gift items in a museum shop, Rippl-Rónai souvenirs were distributed in a street vendor during the Rippl-Rónai Festival.

Painting out of doors inspired Rippl-Rónai to use new, vivid colours.

“Such colours surround me in my new house and garden in Kaposvár. I have grown fond of the scarlet red sage and the simple red geraniums, white flowers please my eyes, but I like the chrome yellow zinnias most. I know of no warmer, or so to say, hotter colour than this yellow. I am looking for these colours now, I am almost collecting them – in my home, on the objects, scarves, walls. On the walls, I prefer to see this bright yellow – the walls of my studio are painted such colour, moreover, my bedrooms are such yellow too.” – described his new surroundings Rippl-Rónai.

These colours are captured on the colourful interiors of the Roma Villa, the sky-blue living room, sun yellow music room and the cadmium yellow studio with the painter’s pictures hung on the walls.

There are almost 90 paintings on display at the museum. The Visitor Centre accommodates the Andrássy Dining Room which was voted „Exhibition of the Year” featuring the full furnishings of an aristocratic dining room for 10 persons. The design is based on flower motifs and boasts an extensive use of colours. The dining room, which was an important milestone of Rippl-Rónai’s applied art career, was fully reconstructed, complete with the replicas of the original tapestry and the huge stained glass window.