Budapest marks the 140th birthday of Lajos Tihanyi, a fearless master of Hungarian Expressionism and the avant‑garde, with a sweeping retrospective that brings together nearly two hundred works: essential paintings and graphics, plus evocative pieces from his estate. Hosted at 1014 Budapest, 2 Szent George Square (Szent György tér 2.), the show opens a vivid window onto a painter who fashioned color from silence after losing his hearing as a child, and who, without formal academic training, built a singular visual language that made him a pivotal member of The Eight (Nyolcak) and one of the most original figures in 20th‑century Hungarian art. The museum photo is under the copyright protection of the Museum of Fine Arts. Guided visits require a ticket to the temporary exhibition and a program ticket; details and phone contacts are available through the venue’s information channels.
Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – Core Guided Tour
On January 29, 2026, from 16:00 to 17:00, the exhibition launches with a one‑hour guided tour that delves into Tihanyi’s best‑known canvases and graphics, and the personal objects that open a window onto his inner world. The painter who grew up in silence carved a voice in paint—expressive, experimental, and stubbornly independent. With no academy credentials, he pressed ahead, shaping an uncompromising style that fuses expressive brushwork with Cubist structure and, later, abstraction. Participation requires a temporary exhibition ticket plus a guided‑tour program ticket priced at approximately 3.90 USD (1,500 HUF). Capacity: 17 people. Meeting point: information desk. Additional slots run on January 31 (15:00–16:00), February 7 (11:00–12:00), February 8 (15:00–16:00), February 11 (16:00–17:00), and February 12 (16:00–17:00).
Phenomenon: This Was Lajos Tihanyi – With Art Historian Blanka Bán (Bán Blanka)
January 30, 2026, 16:00–17:00: A deep‑dive tour with art historian Blanka Bán (Bán Blanka) tracks Tihanyi from his Budapest bourgeois beginnings through the illness that took his hearing, and into a career defined by autonomy and risk. He co‑founded The Eight (Nyolcak), absorbed the naturalist lessons of Nagybánya (Baia Mare), then sharpened his edge across Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and New York. Expect a mix of expressive force, Cubist assembly, and cool‑headed abstraction, all underpinned by relentless independence. The conversation touches on parent‑imposed expectations, why he sometimes painted both sides of a canvas, how contemporaries described his personality—and how he, in turn, dissected theirs in razor‑sharp portraits. It also traces the shift from Fauvist color to nonfigurative explorations. Full ticket: about 19.20 USD (7,400 HUF). Discounted: about 10.90 USD (4,200 HUF). Capacity: 20. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance.
Online Guided Tour: See It From Home
February 3, 2026, 19:00–20:00: Stream the anniversary show on Zoom and get a guided hour through the highlights of Tihanyi’s visual evolution—the expressiveness, the formal experiments, the leap from figuration into pure color and shape. After the live program, the virtual space remains open for a week so viewers can explore independently, zoom into artworks, and read the wall texts and materials at their own pace. Participation fee: about 3.90 USD (1,500 HUF) per person. Capacity: 90. Duration: 60 minutes.
Lajos Tihanyi, the Restless Charmer – With Nóra Winkler (Winkler Nóra) and Tünde Topor (Topor Tünde)
February 5, 2026, 17:00–18:00: Artistic manager Nóra Winkler (Winkler Nóra) and art historian Tünde Topor (Topor Tünde) team up for a spirited tour of a remarkable life, an unconventional career, and a legacy that took a roundabout journey home. A founder of The Eight (Nyolcak), Tihanyi “painted a whole gallery of early‑20th‑century Hungarian literary and artistic luminaries,” bringing the psychological portrait into Hungarian painting and turning faces into case studies in character. Alongside his contemporaries, he put his own face under the microscope, and in later years distilled that gaze into abstract compositions. What do these works say to us now—and what stories hum beneath their surfaces? Full ticket: about 19.20 USD (7,400 HUF). Discounted: about 10.90 USD (4,200 HUF). Capacity: 36. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets sold online and on‑site in order of arrival. After the tour, the show remains open for individual viewing until 18:45.
Budapest–Berlin–Paris: Tihanyi’s Road to Abstraction – With Rita Halász (Halász Rita)
February 6, 2026, 16:00–17:00: Writer and art historian Rita Halász (Halász Rita) guides visitors through the cafés of the fin de siècle, the Berlin avant‑garde, and Parisian modernism to map how Tihanyi pushed from figurative tableaux toward a standalone language of pure color and form. It’s a concise tour of a restless experimenter who tried on modes without losing his core. Full ticket: about 19.20 USD (7,400 HUF). Discounted: about 10.90 USD (4,200 HUF). Capacity: 20. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets available online and on‑site in order of arrival.
Dates, Times, and Where to Be
Key dates in Budapest: January 29–31, February 3, 5–8, 11–12, 2026. The venue anchors the program at 2 Szent George Square (Szent György tér 2.), steps from the Buda Castle district. The guided tours generally run 60 minutes, with small‑group capacities to keep the experience focused and close to the art.
Make a Weekend of It
Right at the foot of Buda Castle and along the Danube, a four‑star boutique hotel offers panoramic rooms in the heart of the city, a 10‑minute walk from the Castle, Matthias Church, and Fisherman’s Bastion—UNESCO World Heritage landmarks that frame the best views in town. The nearby Chain Bridge carries you straight into Pest’s business quarter, with buzzing shopping streets, cafés, and wine bars. It’s the perfect base camp for a Tihanyi‑packed cultural sprint, couples’ getaway, or solo art escape.
More to Explore Around the Same Time
The museum’s wider winter calendar is stacked: family workshops like Recolor It! – museum workshop for children (Színezd újra! – múzeumi műhely gyerekeknek), toddler‑friendly programs such as Toddlers (Tipegők), and other guided tours including The Eight (Nyolcak) and The Art of Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf művészete). February brings English and Italian guided tours, a music‑infused walk with Ádám Bősze (Bősze Ádám) and Gábor Bellák (Bellák Gábor), and a Valentine‑tinted Love is in the Air program. For die‑hard Tihanyi fans, curator talks probe the double‑sided paintings and career gaps in Two or None. Doublings and Hiatuses in the Oeuvre of Lajos Tihanyi (Kettő vagy egy sem. Duplázások és hiátusok Tihanyi Lajos életművében). There’s also a subjective tour by writer Rita Halász (Halász Rita) on January 31 and late‑month deep dives into sculpture, color, and more.
