The Hungarian National Gallery, the country’s largest public collection dedicated to the birth and growth of Hungarian fine art, is packing late 2025 with shows, workshops, tours, festivals, and concerts. Think permanent and temporary exhibitions, guided tours in multiple languages, themed programs, family days, and even summer camps. Kids get creative studios and art education sessions; adults get everything from dance to deep-dive lectures. Here’s what’s on in Budapest across November and December, with a bright spotlight on the quiet poetry of Adolf Fényes.
Kids Step on Stage: Color It New!
November turns the Gallery into a theater for children. The Color It New! museum workshop invites kids to step into artworks and try on roles—writing and staging stories while crafting essential stage props across sessions: masks, puppets, headdresses, and even a stage set. They can be kings, queens, farmhands, or goose girls—remember, it’s all play. Sessions run November 5, 12, 19, and 26.
Mental Fitness: The Beauty of Everyday Life
On November 5, Adolf Fényes’s paintings open a doorway onto sunlit courtyards, quiet interiors, market scenes, village houses, and churches—the gentle rhythm of another time. The program explores the memorial exhibition Pictures of Tranquillity and related works from the permanent collection, then moves to the studio for hands-on creation inspired by what participants have seen.
Dance Meets Visual Art: EX-POSE(S)
On November 7, contemporary dance and visual art meet at the thresholds where body, movement, and image converse. Expect an intense, cross-disciplinary performance with the Gallery’s works as both backdrop and partner.
Guided Tour in Italian
Also on November 7, and again on December 12, visitors can discover the most celebrated masterpieces of Hungarian art in Italian. The tour sweeps from the Middle Ages to today, with a special focus on the 19th and 20th centuries—keep an eye out for Dante among the paintings.
Fashion on Canvas
November 8 dives into fashion history as seen in painting: from Baroque opulence to cool Classicism, the path from heavy women’s updos to short hairstyles, and centuries of style and costume told through brushstrokes. Part of the Autumn Festival of Museums.
Create! Canvas to Canvas
Also November 8, the Create! program honors Adolf Fényes—founder of the Szolnok artists’ colony—on the 80th anniversary of his death. After visiting Pictures of Tranquillity, participants paint unique aprons inspired by Fényes’s colors and motifs.
Mustache State of the Nation
On November 9, The Grand Mustache Panorama traces facial hair through history and fashion—curled, rakish, or rebellious—what each style signals about order, masculinity, and freedom.
“Look at That, Mom!” Sunny Days
On November 13 and 27 (Hungarian), and November 20 (English), family-friendly tours wander through Fényes’s sun-steeped interiors and markets. How does a peasant courtyard sit in the shadow of French Impressionism? What does a Szolnok veranda have in common with Paris? These century-old genre scenes whisper about simple joys and sorrows—and maybe about us, too.
Fényes and the Szolnok Colony
November 15 offers a guided tour through Pictures of Tranquillity and related pieces from the permanent collection, mapping Fényes’s work within the vibrant Szolnok artist community.
St. Martin’s Day Adventures
Also November 15: Gallery Adventures for schools. Guided tours tailored to ages 6–9 (10:30–11:15) and 10–13 (11:30–12:15) bring the festivities to life.
Toddlers: Little Ladies and Young Gentlemen
On November 18, the Tots program steps into elegant homes and salons of yesteryear to see how young ladies and gentlemen lived, dressed, and spent their time.
The Eight: A Shock to the System
November 22 explores The Eight (Nyolcak) through the lens of Lajos Tihanyi’s retrospective. Known first as the “Seekers,” the group lasted only three years, 1909–1912, with three joint shows—yet their arrival jolted Hungarian culture and art like a scientific and technological revolution.
Explore the Gallery: From the Crypt to the Dome
On November 23, a building tour reveals the hidden marvels of the former Royal Palace of Buda—the Habsburg Palatine Crypt and the sweeping view from the dome among them. A Hungarian version, Building Walk: From the Crypt to the Dome, follows on November 30.
Holiday Season for Tots: Shooting Stars
On December 2, a winter-quiet afternoon follows a shining celestial guide into the world of centuries-old altarpieces. Hear the angels sing, stroll a snowy landscape in imagination, and turn white paint into winter magic before making holiday-inspired art in the studio.
Mom, Look! Maternal Parallels
On December 4, shift into Christmas mood by finding the most depicted mother and child in art history—Mary and Jesus—across paintings, panels, and sculpture. Trace how this timeless theme returns in the Middle Ages, then in modern and contemporary art.
Create! Golden Holiday
December 6 celebrates St. Nicholas. Discover his legend, then dive into the gilded glow of Gothic altars and the art of gold leaf. After the tour, decorate small table runners with gold paint using altar motifs—a sparkling touch for the holiday table.
Mental Fitness: Christmas Wonder
On December 10, an Advent program moves through the quiet, festive world of paintings and altars. After reflecting on the season’s depth and beauty, guests head to the studio to create.
Fényes, “The Last Painter of Beauty”
On November 29, art historian Gábor Bellák expands the exhibition experience with stories, connections, and details that don’t fit on a wall label—those things you only notice under a magnifying glass.
