The Hungarian National Gallery is the country’s largest public collection tracing the origins and evolution of Hungary’s visual arts. Beyond permanent and temporary exhibitions, it offers guided tours in Hungarian and foreign languages, themed programs, family days, festivals, and concerts. Kids can join creative clubs, art education workshops, and summer camps—plenty to turn a quick visit into a full-on cultural dive.
Online, Toddler-Friendly, and Deep-Dive Tours
On February 10, the Gallery brings Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf) straight to your sofa with an online guided tour of his dedicated show—an effortless way to explore the painter’s evocative world from home. The same day, Tipegők – Velencei Karnevál whisks the youngest visitors to the pageantry of Venice. Think elegant masked balls, merry parades, and pure play: carousel rides, dancing, role-play, and, to top it off, crafting a lavish carnival mask. Both events take place in Budapest.
Lajos Tihanyi Front and Center
February 11 brings Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – The Art of Lajos Tihanyi (Lázadó formák, merész színek – Tihanyi Lajos művészete), a guided tour spotlighting Tihanyi’s painting. It returns on February 12 with added weight: the 140th anniversary of his birth is marked by a special retrospective of key paintings, graphics, and personal objects. Deaf from childhood, Tihanyi summoned color and form from silence, forging an unmistakable language without academic training. His singular vision placed him among The Eight and made him one of the most original figures in 20th-century Hungarian painting. English-speaking visitors can join Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – The Art of Lajos Tihanyi on February 13 for an in-depth guided tour. Italian speakers get their own pathway on February 13 with a visita guidata in italiano, spanning highlights from the Middle Ages to today with a keen eye on the 19th and 20th centuries—Dante might even make a cameo among the canvases.
Kids’ Workshops That Time-Travel
Color It Anew! – Museum Workshop for Children (Színezd újra! – múzeumi műhely gyerekeknek), running February 11, 18, and 25, invites children to time-travel: How did people live long ago? What do images tell us about the past? Through paintings, genre scenes, portraits, and old photos, kids peek into everyday life—objects used, clothes worn, games played, dreams dreamed. Inspired by the works, they draw, paint, create comics, and dream up their own stories. On February 24, Preschoolers at the Gallery – How Colorful! (Ovisok a Galériában – Milyen színes!) turns the museum into a discovery zone for preschoolers: how painters worked, what a painting or sculpture reveals, exhibition-floor games, and a workshop session to bring ideas to life.
The Nude, Reframed
Look, Mom! – The Beauty of the Human Body (Mama, nézd! – A test szépsége) on February 12 and 26, and the English-language Look at That, Mom! – The Beauty of the Human Body on February 19, all tour the renewed Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century. The human body, especially the nude, is as old as art history itself, but every era reshapes it to fit its ideal. On February 22, Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century (Aktszobrok a századfordulóról) focuses again on the 19th–20th century—another chance to see how ideals morph with the times.
Valentine’s Day With Muses and Myths
February 14 drenches the Gallery in romance. Love Is in the Air invites you to meet muses, lovers, and artists’ wives while tracing the greatest and most tragic love stories across paintings and sculptures. A special Valentine’s Day tour, The Most Beautiful Hungarian Love Paintings (A legszebb magyar szerelmes festmények), follows artists and muses through happy, passionate, tempestuous, and tragic affairs, with works by Pál Szinyei Merse (Szinyei Merse Pál), János Vaszary (Vaszary János), and Róbert Berény (Berény Róbert). Art historian Gergely Barki (Barki Gergely) delivers a bonus lecture, Two or None. Doublings and Hiatuses in the Oeuvre of Lajos Tihanyi (Kettő vagy egy sem. Duplázások és hiátusok Tihanyi Lajos életművében), probing doubles and gaps in Tihanyi’s oeuvre. And to match the roar of the 1900s, a musical tour with Ádám Bősze (Bősze Ádám) and Gábor Bellák (Bellák Gábor) moves through Budapest, Berlin, Paris, and the pulsing first decades of the 20th century—within the Tihanyi exhibition.
Adolf Fényes, Curators, and Closing Notes
The art of Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf) surfaces repeatedly: on February 15 with a curator-led tour by Ágnes Horváth (Horváth Ágnes), on February 21 with a guided look at The Images of Silence. Adolf Fényes (1867–1945) (A csend képei. Fényes Adolf (1867–1945)) and related works from the permanent collection, and on February 28 when Edit Plesznivy’s (Plesznivy Edit) curator tour, The Taste of Sunshine (A napfény íze), uses emblematic masterpieces to sweep across Fényes’s career. Expect nods to family background, student years, circles of patrons and professional supporters, and the classical sources that fed his art.
Carnival Transformations and Thinking Caps
February 21 also features Adventure at the Gallery – Carnival Transformations (Kaland a Galériában – Farsangi átváltozás), two kid-focused guided tours: 10:30–11:15 for ages 6–9, then 11:30–12:15 for ages 10–13. On February 25, Mental Fitness – Sculpture Brought to Life (Szellemi fitnesz – Életre kelt szobor) blends nudes, love, and mythology. Can a sculpture come alive? Can one fall in love with a flawlessly crafted work? The walk roams the permanent exhibition and the renewed turn-of-the-century nude show, followed by a hands-on workshop.
Long-Running and Special Programs
The year stretches well beyond February. The Breath of Light | Spiritism, Theosophy, and Buddhism at the Turn of the 19th–20th Centuries in Hungary runs April 30, 2025–March 1, 2026. The Images of Silence. Adolf Fényes (1867–1945) Memorial Exhibition (A csend képei. Fényes Adolf (1867–1945) emlékkiállítás) runs October 10, 2025–March 15, 2026. Endre Tót: Night Visit to the Museum (Tót Endre: Éjszakai látogatás a múzeumban) runs November 6, 2025–March 1, 2026. TIHANYI 140. Lajos Tihanyi (1885–1938) Life’s Work Exhibition spans November 21, 2025–February 15, 2026. On February 14, there’s a family tour in The Breath of Light and a Valentine’s pruning workshop for garden lovers, alongside the aforementioned romantic painting tour. February 19 and 21 offer authentic Japanese tea ceremonies, and on February 20 Okkult tudományok tegnap és ma | Dr. Miklós Sárközy: Zoroastrianism (Okkult tudományok tegnap és ma | Dr. Sárközy Miklós: Zoroasztrianizmus) is hosted. February 21 also celebrates Plum Blossom (Ume) (Szilvavirágzás (Ume)) with Judit Várhelyi’s (Várhelyi Judit) interactive talk on Japanese flower art. February 28 brings another The Taste of Sunshine curator tour plus FINISSAGE | The Breath of Light (FINISSZÁZS | Lélegző fény), the closing festivities for The Breath of Light. Mark the national days ahead—March 15, August 20, October 23—and ongoing Buda Castle District (Budai Várnegyed) programs running all year, January 1–December 31, 2026.
Organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs.
