The Hungarian master of Expressionism and the avant-garde, Lajos Tihanyi, is honored with a sweeping career exhibition in Budapest featuring nearly two hundred works: major paintings, graphics, and personal estate objects. The show anchors a packed program of guided tours from late 2025 into early 2026 at 2 Szent George Square (Szent György tér 2) (1014), offering intimate deep dives, curator talks, an online tour, and an accessible session with sign-language interpretation. A photograph for the event is under the copyright protection of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Rebel Forms, Bold Colors — Lajos Tihanyi’s Art
Marking the 140th anniversary of the artist’s birth, the exhibition spotlights his daring color compositions and abstract forms, tracing a life that transformed silence into visual music. Tihanyi lost his hearing in childhood due to meningitis, which also affected his speech and made communication difficult; he lip-read and spoke with effort. 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 voices in 20th-century Hungarian painting.
Guided tours run December 27–30, 2025, from 11:00 to 12:00, and continue into January 2026 with multiple dates. Each session lasts 60 minutes, with a maximum of 17 participants. Meet at the information desk. Participation requires a temporary exhibition ticket and a program ticket priced at 1,500 HUF (about 4.11 USD).
Dates and Times
– 2025: December 27, 28, 29, 30, 11:00–12:00
– 2026: January 9, 16:00–17:00; January 11, 15:00–16:00; January 17, 15:00–16:00; January 23, 16:00–17:00; January 29, 16:00–17:00; January 31, 15:00–16:00
All events listed take place in Budapest.
TIHANYI 140 — Curator Tour with Mariann Gergely
January 15, 2026, 16:00–17:00. The curator explores how, until the 1970s, Tihanyi’s works were known at home mainly through black-and-white reproductions. His estate made a dramatic journey from Paris to the Hungarian National Gallery fifty-five years ago. Tihanyi’s career unfolded under a severe personal tragedy: he lost his hearing at eleven; his speech was affected, and he read lips. He never attended academic schools; his unique painterly and drawing style emerged from a singular way of seeing shaped by his situation.
As a young man he visited Nagybánya (Baia Mare), mingled with painters and writers, and moved in the era’s intellectual circles. He emigrated in the winter of 1919 and never returned to Hungary. A key figure of The Eight, he had a solo show in 1918 at the MA circle’s exhibition space led by Lajos Kassák, leaving the country as an already recognized artist. He lived in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and New York, returning to Paris in the 1930s.
Tihanyi connected with the international avant-garde, meeting leading figures in Berlin and Paris. His most important body of work is a series of portraits of prominent personalities. Beyond Hungarian luminaries like Lajos Kassák, Lajos Fülep, Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Józsi Jenő Tersánszky, Dezső Kosztolányi, Pál Pátzay, and György Bölöni, he painted stars of the international scene including Ivan Goll, Diego Rivera, Tristan Tzara, Marinetti, and Brassaï. His expressive portraits drew comparisons to Oskar Kokoschka. In his final years he created exciting abstract works and joined the international group Abstraction-Création in 1932.
Tickets: full price 7,400 HUF (about 20.26 USD), discounted 4,200 HUF (about 11.49 USD). Max 17 participants. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance.
The Person Behind the Palette — Tour with Art Historian Gergely Barki
January 16, 2026, 16:00–17:00. Barki leads an unconventional walk through TIHANYI 140, probing the artist’s personality as deeply as his paintings. Despite hearing loss and speech challenges, Tihanyi was social, with many friends—and foes—yet lived in solitude. He never formed a lasting partnership; beyond his disability, his difficult temperament may have played a part, though he was honest and consistent in all relationships. How did this reflect in his art? What impact did his personal ties have on his painting? This tour searches for answers.
Tickets: full price 7,400 HUF (about 20.26 USD), discounted 4,200 HUF (about 11.49 USD). Max 20 participants. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets sold online and on-site, first come, first served.
Online Guided Tour
January 22, 2026, 19:00–20:00 on Zoom. Celebrate Tihanyi’s 140th with a guided session you can enjoy at home. After the live tour, the virtual exhibition space remains open for a week: zoom in on works and explore on-screen texts. Fee: 1,500 HUF (about 4.11 USD) per person. Max 90 participants. Duration: 60 minutes.
Accessible Tour with Sign-Language Interpretation
January 25, 2026, 15:00–16:00. The Rebel Forms, Bold Colors tour is interpreted in sign language, enabling hearing, hard-of-hearing, and deaf visitors to share the experience together. Join with a temporary exhibition ticket and a program ticket (1,500 HUF, about 4.11 USD). The content matches the standard tour. Entry and participation are free for SINOSZ members with prior registration by January 20. Duration: 60 minutes. Max 17 participants. Meeting point: information desk.
What Else Is On
The museum’s calendar around the Tihanyi program is packed: from Building Tour – From the Crypt to the Dome (Épületséta – Kriptától a kupoláig) and Recolor! workshops for kids (Színezd újra!), to The Art of Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf művészete), Guided Tour in Italian (Visita guidata in italiano), Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century (Aktszobrok a századfordulóról), Adventure in the Gallery – Unusual Faces (Kaland a Galériában – Különös arcok), and talks like Two or None. Doublings and Hiatuses in the Oeuvre of Lajos Tihanyi (Kettő vagy egy sem. Duplázások és hiátusok Tihanyi Lajos életművében). Further Rebel Forms, Bold Colors sessions recur across January 2026, including January 9, 11, 17, 23, 29, and 31, plus subjective tours like Embroidered in Concrete – Writer Rita Halász’s Personal Guided Tour (Betonba hímezve – Halász Rita író szubjektív tárlatvezetése) and creative programs such as Create! – Abstract Experience Painting (Alkoss! – Absztrakt élményfestés). On February 1, The Eight – Scheduled Guided Tour (Nyolcak – Előre meghirdetett tárlatvezetés) caps the series.
Organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs.
