Budapest is getting a blockbuster art night. The Virág Judit Gallery is staging its 80th Winter Auction on December 8, 2025, at 6 p.m., at the Novotel Budapest City & Budapest Congress Center. More than 200 lots are heading under the hammer, spanning icons of Hungarian classical and modern painting, rare discoveries, and fresh finds. A free exhibition of all works runs daily from November 26 to December 7 at the gallery, 1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa utca 30. Guided tours with Kelen Anna: December 4 and 7, both at 4 p.m.
Among the headliners: a blazing, late “corn style” portrait by József Rippl-Rónai depicting his close friend Lajos Kunffy; a shimmering Danube vision by István Szőnyi; János Kmetty’s cubist-tinged City Park masterpiece; and a museum-grade 1835 canvas by Károly Markó the Elder that reaches back to an ancient Greek Cinderella tale. Works by László Mednyánszky, Róbert Berény, Hugó Scheiber, István Nádler, and Ilona Keserü round out a high-caliber lineup.
Rippl-Rónai’s fiery friendship on canvas
A Rippl-Rónai resurfacing is always a moment, and this one carries a personal charge. The Kaposvár-born maestro immortalized his friend, painter Lajos Kunffy, with molten color and confident economy during his prized “corn style” period. The two artists shared a hometown and a Paris connection, often traveling back to Hungary together and painting one another and their wives—works known as the Friendship Paintings. This Kunffy portrait, painted in blazing tones, encapsulates that circle and era. Opening bid: 65,000,000 HUF (about 176,000 USD).
Kmetty’s crisp spring experiment
János Kmetty spent several months in Paris in 1911, absorbing Cézanne’s structural force. Returning home, he launched a series on Budapest’s City Park (Városliget), testing a modern, cubizing landscape language while staying rooted in direct observation. The 1912 Városligeti táj (City Park Landscape) emerges as a standout from that cycle: bracing spring light, fresh air, clean planes, and a constructive style that’s unmistakably Kmetty. It comes from a discerning Hungarian collection and starts at 20,000,000 HUF (about 54,000 USD).
Markó’s Roman-era Cinderella
One of the night’s most anticipated lots is Károly Markó the Elder’s 1835 jewel, Rhodopis cipője (Rhodopis’s Shoe), a pinnacle from his Roman period. Revered in both Italy and Hungary, Markó spent much of his career south of the Alps. Here, he tackles one of the earliest Greek variants of the Cinderella story: as Rhodopis bathes in a river, an eagle swoops down and steals her sandal. It’s a richly staged, museum-grade work. Opening bid: 16,000,000 HUF (about 43,000 USD).
Szőnyi’s silver-gray Danube
From his garden in Zebegény, István Szőnyi found more than a view—he found unity between people and landscape. His Szürke Duna (Gray Danube), painted in 1935, folds light, sparkle, reflection, and emotion into a single impression, often described as a silver-gray symphony. More than a landscape, it’s a tone poem of the Danube Bend. Opening bid: 12,000,000 HUF (about 32,500 USD).
Scheiber’s neon nights and quick steps
Hugó Scheiber roamed Budapest with a portfolio under his arm, hunting buyers—and capturing the city’s pulse with flair. Flashing ads, accelerating traffic, characters of the metropolis: his Táncosnők (Dancers) channels the crackle of Jazz Age nights when Josephine Baker fever gripped the town. Rhythm and motion pop across the canvas. Opening bid: 7,500,000 HUF (about 20,300 USD).
Landscape legends and modern voices
Collectors will also find a luminous landscape by László Mednyánszky, a decorative, light-touched still life by Róbert Berény, and Scheiber’s cabaret-charged dancers. Among the contemporary highlights, works by István Nádler and Ilona Keserü assert bold color and form, bridging modernist rigor with present-day energy.
Hungary’s first bitcoin buy at a major auction
For the first time in Hungary’s auction history, bidders can pay in bitcoin for a major lot. Virág Judit Gallery will offer a work by Péter Weiler that accepts both HUF and crypto—and the piece itself is inscribed on the blockchain via Bitcoin Ordinals, making it immutable. The gallery, a 28-year mainstay of the Hungarian market, becomes the first among top local houses to enable bitcoin payment at a significant art sale.
Weiler’s untitled work, part of his Újratervezés (Rerouting) series, was created with the help of AI and stands as the first artwork placed on the Bitcoin blockchain in Ordinals form to appear in a traditional auction room here. That inscription renders the piece unique and unalterable, with traceable ownership and metadata verifying authenticity and holder identity. The starting price is 550,000 HUF—roughly 1,500 USD—or 0.015 bitcoin at the time of listing.
How to see it all
Every lot is on view for free through December 7 at Virág Judit Galéria (Virág Judit Gallery), Falk Miksa utca 30, during opening hours. The auction begins December 8 at 6 p.m. at the Budapest Congress Center. Organizers reserve the right to change times and programs, so check details before you go. Budapest’s art crowd has only a few days left to see these Hungarian treasures in person before the gavel falls and new owners take them home.
