A landmark perched at Szent György Square 2 (Szent György tér 2) in the Buda Castle District, the Hungarian National Gallery is where the past and present of Hungarian visual art collide—permanently and in lively bursts. Expect blockbuster and boutique exhibitions, multilingual guided tours, family days, festivals, concerts, and plenty for kids: creative clubs, hands-on art education sessions, and summer camps. February 2026 comes loaded with artist spotlights, carnival play, music-infused tours, and love-soaked stories just in time for Valentine’s Day.
See It From Home—or Up Close
Kick off on February 10 with an online guided tour of the Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf) exhibition. It’s an easy window into the painter’s world without leaving the couch. Also on February 10, Tipegők – Velencei Karnevál whisks the youngest visitors to Venice’s refined masked balls and parades. There’s carousel fun, dancing, role-play, and a craft session to make a lavish carnival mask. The city, of course: Budapest.
Lajos Tihanyi Takes Center Stage
February 11–13 turns the spotlight on Lajos Tihanyi, a singular voice in 20th‑century Hungarian art and a member of the trailblazing The Eight (Nyolcak). Guided tours on February 11 and 12 trace his audacious forms and color dramaturgy. Born 140 years ago, Tihanyi lost his hearing in childhood and forged a visionary language without academic schooling—he made silence vibrate with line and hue. The special retrospective gathers major paintings, graphics, and personal objects, and returns on February 13 with an English-language tour: Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – The Art of Lajos Tihanyi.
Kids’ Workshops That Time-Travel
Színezd újra! – múzeumi műhely gyerekeknek lands on February 11, 18, and 25. It’s all about how people lived long ago and what pictures say about the past. Through paintings, genre scenes, portraits, and old photographs, children peek into everyday life—what people used, wore, played with, and dreamed about—then draw, paint, craft comics, and spin their own stories in the workshop.
Beauty of the Body, Nude Reimagined
“Mama, look! – The Beauty of the Human Body” tours on February 12 and 26 explore how artists have pictured the nude—one of the oldest subjects in art—and how each era’s ideals shaped its portrayal. The renewed display Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century anchors the tour. An English-language parallel on February 19, Look at that, Mom! – The Beauty of the Human Body, mirrors the theme, guiding visitors through ideals, myth, and form.
Love Stories in the Galleries
February 14 is a full-bloom Valentine’s takeover. Love is in the Air invites you to meet muses, lovers, and artists’ spouses, tracing the grandest and most tragic romances across painting and sculpture. A Hungarian-language highlight, A legszebb magyar szerelmes festmények, follows artists and their muses—joy, passion, storms, and heartbreak—through works by Pál Szinyei Merse (Szinyei Merse Pál), János Vaszary (Vaszary János), and Róbert Berény (Berény Róbert). Music meets modernism the same day in a special guided tour of the Tihanyi show led by Ádám Bősze (Bősze Ádám) and Gábor Bellák (Bellák Gábor), bouncing between Budapest, Berlin, Paris, and the pulse of the early 20th century. Also on the 14th: art historian Gergely Barki’s (Barki Gergely) extra lecture, Kettő vagy egy sem. Duplázások és hiátusok Tihanyi Lajos életművében, digging into doubles and gaps across Tihanyi’s oeuvre.
Italian, Please—and Dante, Maybe
On February 13, Visita guidata in italiano sweeps through Hungarian masterpieces from the Middle Ages to today, with a special focus on the 19th and 20th centuries—and you might just bump into Dante among the canvases.
The Adolf Fényes Thread
Beyond the online intro, Adolf Fényes returns on February 15 with a curator-led tour by Ágnes Horváth (Horváth Ágnes), then again on February 21 for a deeper dive into A csend képei. Fényes Adolf (1867–1945) and related works in the permanent collection. On February 28, curator Edit Plesznivy (Plesznivy Edit) leads A napfény íze, using emblematic masterpieces to map the painter’s entire career while touching on family background, studies, patrons, professional circles, and classical sources that nourished his art.
Masks, Myths, and Mind Fitness
Carnival spirit continues on February 21 with Kaland a Galériában – Farsangi átváltozás, offering two guided sessions: 10:30–11:15 for ages 6–9 and 11:30–12:15 for ages 10–13. On February 25, Szellemi fitnesz – Életre kelt szobor wonders: can a sculpture come alive? Can you fall in love with a perfectly crafted piece? This edition mixes nudes, love, and mythology with a tour across the permanent collection and the renewed turn‑of‑the‑century nude sculpture show—followed by a creative workshop.
Preschool Adventures and More Nudes
Ovisok a Galériában – Milyen színes! on February 24 gets preschoolers curious about how painters worked and what artworks reveal. After playful discovery in the galleries, they create in the studio. On February 22, Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century (Aktszobrok a századfordulóról) offers a guided look at the 19th–20th‑century nude sculpture lineup, tracking how the human ideal shifts with the times.
What’s Running Now—and What’s Next
– The major thematic show Breathing Light (A LÉLEGZŐ FÉNY) | Spiritism, Theosophy and Buddhism at the Turn of the 19th–20th Centuries in Hungary runs April 30, 2025–March 1, 2026, with a family tour on February 14 and a finissage on February 28. Talks include Occult Sciences Yesterday and Today (OKKULT TUDOMÁNYOK TEGNAP ÉS MA) | Dr. Miklós Sárközy (Dr. Sárközy Miklós): Zoroastrianism (February 20). Authentic Japanese tea ceremonies appear February 19 and 21, plus the Plum Blossom (Ume) Festival talk with Judit Várhelyi (Várhelyi Judit) on February 21.
– The Silence of Things (A csend képei). Adolf Fényes (1867–1945) runs October 10, 2025–March 15, 2026.
– Endre Tót (Tót Endre): Night Visit at the Museum runs November 6, 2025–March 1, 2026.
– TIHANYI 140. Lajos Tihanyi (1885–1938) retrospective runs November 21, 2025–February 15, 2026.
– Year-round: Buda Castle District (Budai Várnegyed) programs span January 1–December 31, 2026, with national holidays marked on March 15, August 20, and October 23.
All events take place in Budapest, at 1014, District I – Castle District (Várkerület), Szent György Square 2 (Szent György tér 2). The Gallery keeps the art pulse high—online and on site, for kids and grown-ups, in Hungarian, English, and Italian.
