A sweeping retrospective in Budapest pulls back the curtain on Lajos Tihanyi, a powerhouse of Hungarian Expressionism and the avant‑garde who pursued daring color harmonies and abstract forms. Nearly two hundred works anchor this career-spanning exhibition, from his defining paintings and graphics to intimate estate objects that traveled a winding path from Paris to the Hungarian National Gallery fifty-five years ago. The venue is 1014 Budapest, Szent György Square (Szent György tér) 2. The program unfolds through guided tours on-site and online, delving into the artist’s personality, his turbulent biography, and the restless evolution that led him from incisive portraits to abstraction.
Who Was Tihanyi?
Born 140 years ago, Tihanyi lost his hearing at age eleven due to meningitis. Deafness reshaped his speech; he read lips and moved through life without academic art schooling, forging a striking visual language from his singular way of seeing the world. As a young man he worked in Nagybánya (Baia Mare), befriended writers and painters, and moved in the era’s intellectual circles. In the winter of 1919 he emigrated and never returned to Hungary, living in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, then New York, before settling again in Paris in the 1930s. He stood at the center of currents shaping modern art, connected to international avant‑garde circles and—like Oskar Kokoschka—renowned for expressive, psychologically charged portraits. Beyond Hungarian figures such as Lajos Kassák (Kassák Lajos), Lajos Fülep (Fülep Lajos), Endre Ady (Ady Endre), Mihály Babits (Babits Mihály), Józsi Jenő Tersánszky (Tersánszky Józsi Jenő), Dezső Kosztolányi (Kosztolányi Dezső), Pál Pátzay (Pátzay Pál), and György Bölöni (Bölöni György), he portrayed Ivan Goll, Diego Rivera, Tristan Tzara, Marinetti, and Brassaï. In his final years he painted compelling abstracts and in 1932 joined Abstraction‑Création. Remarkably, Hungarian audiences knew many of his works only through black‑and‑white reproductions until the 1970s.
Curator’s Tour: TIHANYI 140
January 15, 16:00–17:00. Curator Mariann Gergely leads a tour through the arc of Tihanyi’s career, from early friendships and the Eight (Nyolcak) group to the émigré years and the late abstractions. Tickets: full price USD 20.40, discount USD 11.60. Maximum 17 people. Meeting point: ground floor, exhibition entrance.
The Man Behind the Palette
January 16, 16:00–17:00. Art historian Gergely Barki offers an unconventional take on Tihanyi’s character and how it threads through the work. Despite hearing loss and speech difficulties, Tihanyi was social, with plenty of friends—and, inevitably, enemies—yet he lived essentially alone. He never built a long-term partnership, perhaps due to his disability and a difficult temperament, but he was unflinchingly honest and self-consistent. How did these traits shape the canvases? Find out in Barki’s deep-dive tour. Tickets: full price USD 20.40, discount USD 11.60. Max 20. Meeting point: ground floor, entrance. Tickets online and on-site, first come, first served.
Rebel Forms, Bold Colors
January 17, 15:00–16:00. Marking the 140th anniversary, this guided visit highlights key paintings, graphics, and personal objects. Losing his hearing as a child, Tihanyi “created color and form from silence,” finding a unique voice in paint. Without academy training, he became one of the most original figures of the Eight (Nyolcak) and 20th‑century Hungarian art. Participation requires an exhibition ticket plus a tour program ticket (USD 4.10). Duration: 60 minutes. Max 17. Meeting point: information desk. Further dates:
– January 18, 11:00–12:00
– January 23, 16:00–17:00
– January 29, 16:00–17:00
– January 31, 15:00–16:00
– February 7, 11:00–12:00
– February 8, 15:00–16:00
Online Tour on Hungarian Culture Day
January 22, 19:00–20:00. Explore from home with a live Zoom tour introducing Tihanyi’s milestones—paintings, graphics, and personal artifacts—through the lens of the artist who turned silence into a blazing visual language. Afterward, access the virtual space for a week to zoom into the works and review the displays independently. Fee: USD 4.10 per person. Max 90. Duration: 60 minutes.
Accessible Tour with Sign‑Language Interpretation
January 25, 15:00–16:00. The same Rebel Forms, Bold Colors tour, supported by sign‑language interpretation to welcome hearing, hard‑of‑hearing, and deaf visitors together. Participation with an exhibition ticket plus tour program ticket (USD 4.10). Free for SINOSZ members with prior registration by January 20. Duration: 60 minutes. Max 17. Meeting point: information desk.
The Restless Charmer
February 5, 17:00–18:00. Nóra Winkler, art manager, and Tünde Topor, art historian, team up for The Restless Charmer: Lajos Tihanyi. A singular life, an unconventional career, an estate that returned home by an adventurous route. A founding member of the Eight (Nyolcak), Tihanyi “painted a whole gallery of the early‑20th‑century Hungarian literary and artistic scene,” with piercing insight. He brought the psychological portrait into Hungarian painting, and his late abstracts add another chapter to his story. What do his works say to viewers today? Tickets: full price USD 20.40, discount USD 11.60. Max 36. Meeting point: ground floor, entrance. Tickets online and on-site, first come, first served. After the tour, the exhibition remains open for independent viewing until 18:45.
Budapest–Berlin–Paris: Road to Abstraction
February 6, 16:00–17:00. Writer and art historian Rita Halász traces how café culture at the turn of the century, Berlin’s avant‑garde, and Parisian modernism shaped Tihanyi’s style—from figurative composition to a pure language of color and form. Tickets: full price USD 20.40, discount USD 11.60. Max 20. Meeting point: ground floor, entrance. Tickets online and on-site, first come, first served.
Practical Details
General admission for most guided tours is USD 20.40 full price and USD 11.60 discounted, unless otherwise noted. The exhibition anchors a rich lineup celebrating Tihanyi at 140—an artist who bridged Budapest, Berlin, Paris, and New York, leaving behind portraits that double as psychological studies and abstracts that hum with energy. From on-site deep dives to a Zoom walkthrough with weeklong virtual access, it’s a chance to meet the man, the myth, and the palette.
