On 2 Szent György Square in Budapest’s Castle District, a sweeping retrospective spotlights Lajos Tihanyi, the Hungarian master who pushed Expressionism and the avant-garde with daring color harmonies and abstract forms. Nearly 200 works anchor the show: major paintings and graphics, plus estate pieces that bring his story close. The museum image is under the Museum of Fine Arts’ (Szépművészeti Múzeum) copyright protection.
Rebel forms, brave colors
January 29, 2026, 16:00–17:00. Marking the 140th anniversary of Tihanyi’s birth, the exhibition assembles his most important canvases, works on paper, and personal items. Having lost his hearing in childhood, he conjured color and form out of silence, crafting an unmistakable voice in paint. Without academic training, he forged a striking visual language and became one of the most original figures of The Eight (Nyolcak) and 20th-century Hungarian painting.
See the show with a guided tour and dig into why his brushwork still jolts today. Entry requires a temporary exhibition ticket plus a guided tour program ticket (USD 4.20). Duration: 60 minutes. Max group size: 17. Meeting point: information desk. More dates: January 31, 15:00–16:00; February 7, 11:00–12:00; February 8, 15:00–16:00; February 11, 16:00–17:00; February 12, 16:00–17:00.
“Phenomenon: That Was Lajos Tihanyi” with art historian Blanka Bán
January 30, 2026, 16:00–17:00. A defining voice in early 20th-century Hungarian modernism, Tihanyi co-founded The Eight (Nyolcak). Raised in a Budapest bourgeois milieu, he lost his hearing after a serious illness yet stayed fiercely ambitious. Free of academies, he shaped a painterly language that remained restlessly open and experimental. His art absorbed the intellectual climates he moved through: from early, color-rich attempts and the naturalism of Nagybánya (Baia Mare) to longer and shorter stints in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and New York. Expressionism, Cubist construction, and abstraction all surface in his work, while each period remained distinctly his and enduring.
Expect answers to lively questions: What career did his parents imagine for him? Why did he paint both sides of some canvases? What did contemporaries say about his character, and how did he pin them down in portraits? How did he move from the Fauvist blast of color to non-figurative painting? Full-price ticket: USD 20.60. Discounted: USD 11.70. Max: 20. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance.
Online tour from home
February 3, 2026, 19:00–20:00. Celebrate Tihanyi’s 140th with an online guided tour of his key paintings, graphics, and personal objects. A painter who pulled soundless worlds into vivid chroma, he found his own accent without academies, becoming one of the boldest voices of The Eight (Nyolcak) and the century. After the live tour, you’ll have a week of independent access to the virtual space—zoom in on works and explore wall texts at your own pace. Platform: Zoom. Fee: USD 4.20 per person. Max: 90. Length: 60 minutes.
Lajos Tihanyi, the restless charmer
February 5, 2026, 17:00–18:00. A joint tour by art manager Nóra Winkler and art historian Tünde Topor. A singular life, an unconventional career, and a legacy that returned home by a winding route. A founder of The Eight (Nyolcak), he “painted a whole gallery of early-20th-century Hungarian literary and artistic celebrities” with rare acuity. “With him, the psychological portrait marched into Hungarian painting,” and his portraits double as psychological case studies. Alongside portraits of his peers, he often turned the gaze on himself, and the abstract compositions of his final years fascinate just as much. What do these works and backstories say to us now? Full-price ticket: USD 20.60. Discounted: USD 11.70. Max: 36. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets available online and on-site, first come, first served. After the tour, the show remains open for independent viewing until 18:45.
Budapest–Berlin–Paris: Tihanyi’s road to abstraction
February 6, 2026, 16:00–17:00. Writer and art historian Rita Halász leads a tour tracing how café culture around the turn of the century, Berlin’s avant-garde, and Parisian modernism shaped his style. Follow the journey from figurative compositions toward a self-sufficient language of pure colors and forms. Full-price ticket: USD 20.60. Discounted: USD 11.70. Max: 20. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance. Tickets online and on-site, first come, first served.
Dates and city
January 29, 2026 — Budapest
January 30, 2026 — Budapest
January 31, 2026 — Budapest
February 3, 2026 — Budapest
February 5, 2026 — Budapest
February 6, 2026 — Budapest
February 7, 2026 — Budapest
February 8, 2026 — Budapest
February 11–12, 2026 — Budapest
Organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs.
