A landmark retrospective celebrates Lajos Tihanyi, the Hungarian master of Expressionism and the avant-garde who pursued daring color harmonies and abstract forms. Nearly 200 works fill the career-spanning exhibition at 1014 Budapest, Szent György Square (Szent György tér) 2: pivotal paintings and graphics alongside estate objects that trace a restless, uncompromising career shaped by silence and vision.
Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – live tours
On February 7, 11:00–12:00, the show marks the 140th anniversary of Tihanyi’s birth with guided visits through his most important canvases, drawings, and personal relics. Losing his hearing in childhood, he conjured colors and forms from quiet, finding a singular voice in paint. Without academic training, he forged an extraordinary visual language that made him a defining figure of The Eight (Nyolcak) and one of the most original painters of 20th-century Hungary. Join a guided tour to dive deeper into his practice. Admission requires a temporary exhibition ticket plus a tour program ticket priced at about $4.15. Duration: 60 minutes. Capacity: 17 people. Meeting point: information desk. Further slots: February 8, 15:00–16:00; February 11, 16:00–17:00; February 12, 16:00–17:00.
Online tour: see it from home
On February 3, 19:00–20:00, an online tour marks the anniversary with a live walkthrough of the exhibition. Experience the work of a painter who, despite childhood deafness, built a world of color and form, developing a distinctive language outside academic norms and standing at the forefront of The Eight and Hungarian modernism. After the live session, visitors can independently explore the virtual space for one week, zooming in on artworks and reading the gallery content. The program runs on Zoom. Ticket: about $4.15 per person. Capacity: 90. Length: 60 minutes.
The Restless Charmer: special tour with Winkler and Topor
February 5, 17:00–18:00 features Lajos Tihanyi, a restless charmer, led by art manager Nóra Winkler and art historian Tünde Topor. Expect a singular life story, an unconventional path, and a legacy that returned home via a twisty route. A founding member of The Eight, Tihanyi “painted together a whole gallery of early 20th-century Hungarian literary and artistic celebrities” with sharp insight. “With him, the psychological portrait entered Hungarian painting,” turning portraits into psychological studies. Alongside his peers, he often focused on self-portraiture, while his late abstractions are equally compelling. What do these works and their backstories say to today’s viewer? Full-price ticket: about $20.50; discount: about $11.60. Capacity: 36. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets online or on-site in order of arrival. After the tour, the show remains open until 18:45 for self-guided viewing.
Budapest–Berlin–Paris: the road to abstraction
On February 6, 16:00–17:00, writer and art historian Rita Halász traces how café culture at the fin de siècle, Berlin’s avant-garde, and Parisian modernism shaped Tihanyi’s evolution from figurative compositions to the autonomous language of pure color and form. Full-price ticket: about $20.50; discount: about $11.60. Capacity: 20. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets online or on-site in order of arrival.
Budapest dates: February 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12.
