The Hungarian National Gallery is the country’s largest public collection chronicling the birth and evolution of Hungarian fine art. Visitors can explore permanent and temporary exhibitions, join guided tours in Hungarian and foreign languages, and drop into themed programs, family days, festivals, and concerts. Kids get hands-on with creative clubs, art education sessions, and summer camps—so yes, it’s a place where art meets everyday life for all ages.
Toddlers and Shooting Stars – December 16, 2025
On a quiet winter afternoon, little ones set off after a bright celestial wonder. A star leads the way into the world of centuries-old altarpieces sparkling in the dark. There’s the hush of angels’ songs, a make-believe stroll through a snowy landscape, the crunch of fresh snow underfoot, and a playful discovery of what white paint can do. After the gallery adventure, it’s time to craft for the holidays. Budapest.
Look at That, Mom! – Reflections of Motherhood – December 18, 2025
December is for celebrating the most famous child—baby Jesus—so this tour traces depictions of mothers with their children across time. It draws parallels showing how this intimate, timeless theme reappears in modern and contemporary art well beyond the Middle Ages. Budapest.
Family Day with Csontváry – December 20, 2025
Looking for something truly special before Christmas? The Gallery’s family day blends art, play, and festive mood in one lively program. Expect creative activities that draw kids and adults into the spirit of the season. Budapest.
Festive Moods with Adolf Fényes – December 20, 2025
A guided tour steeped in the flavors of celebration—snowy landscapes, Christmas toys, angelic music, and the scent of pine. Center stage is the Adolf Fényes memorial exhibition, complemented by related works from the permanent collection. Budapest.
Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – The Art of Lajos Tihanyi – Multiple Dates
Marking 140 years since his birth, Lajos Tihanyi’s major retrospective showcases his most important paintings, graphics, and personal objects. Losing his hearing in childhood, Tihanyi conjured colors and forms from silence and forged a unique voice in the language of painting. Without academic training, he built an extraordinary visual vocabulary that made him a key figure of the Nyolcak (The Eight) and one of the most original voices in 20th-century Hungarian art. Catch the exhibition with guided tours on December 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 2025, and January 9, 11, 17, 2026. Budapest.
Recolor It! – Kids’ Museum Workshop – January 7 and 14, 2026
January’s Recolor It! club turns the Gallery into a mystery. Budding detectives follow the trail of a great painter—Lajos Tihanyi—inspecting dozens of works to uncover hidden details. If they’re sharp, the puzzle clicks into place. Alongside sleuthing, kids create: they playfully “forge” paintings, make a composite portrait, and experiment with photo manipulation. Budapest.
Look at That, Mom! – Sunny Days – January 8, 2026
A guided journey through the exhibition Pictures of Tranquillity, viewing works by Adolf Fényes (1867–1945) alongside gems from the permanent collection. Budapest.
Visita guidata in italiano – January 9, 2026
Un percorso in italiano tra i principali capolavori dell’arte ungherese, dal Medioevo a oggi, con particolare attenzione all’Ottocento e al Novecento. E chissà, magari tra i quadri s’incontra anche Dante! Budapest.
Adolf Fényes’s Art – January 10, 2026
Step into worlds where sunlight floods the humblest interiors, markets pulse with storybook life, and everyday scenes carry as much weight as historical tableaux. One of the late 19th–early 20th centuries’ most sensitive Hungarian painters, Fényes brings quiet moments close—and maybe brings us closer to ourselves. The tour wanders through his landscapes and intimate interiors, asking how a peasant courtyard fits in the shadow of French Impressionism, what links a veranda in Szolnok to Paris, and what these century-old genre scenes whisper about simple joys and sorrows. Budapest.
Toddlers – Snowflake Dance – January 13, 2026
Bundle up with the softest gloves and warmest boots for a magical winter adventure at the Gallery. Watch the forest turn white and find the colors hidden in snow. Then sing, tell stories, and dance with the snowflakes. Budapest.
Tihanyi 140 – Curator Tour with Mariann Gergely – January 15, 2026
For decades, Hungarian audiences knew Lajos Tihanyi’s works mostly from black-and-white reproductions. Fifty-five years ago, his estate took a dramatic journey from Paris into the Hungarian National Gallery’s collection. This curator-led tour unpacks that story and the art it preserved. Budapest.
Look, Mama! – When Silence Speaks – January 15, 2026
Tihanyi’s childhood illness left him deaf and mute, shaping a life and art forged in silence. This program explores how that seeming limitation became an advantage, making his work strikingly unique. Budapest.
Create! – Abstract Experience Painting – January 17, 2026
Abstract art opens the gates to imagination: sometimes it’s geometric rigor, other times freely roaming brushstrokes. Meet heavyweights like Sean Scully, Judit Reigl, and Simon Hantaï, whose careers shaped abstraction. After the gallery walk, participants paint bold abstract pieces themselves. Budapest.
Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century – January 18, 2026
The naked human body—the nude—is among art’s oldest subjects. This session turns to the fin de siècle to explore how sculptors reimagined the classical form at a moment of radical change. Budapest.
