The Hungarian National Gallery, the country’s largest public collection dedicated to the birth and evolution of Hungarian fine art, is rolling out a packed 2026 program in Budapest. Expect major exhibitions, guided tours in multiple languages, themed events, family days, festivals, and concerts. Kids get plenty too, from creative clubs and art education workshops to summer camps—all designed to bring the collection to life across ages and interests.
The Nyolcak and a Sunday Choral Hit
On February 1, an advance-booked tour takes a deep dive into the Nyolcak (The Eight), the short-lived but explosive group initially introduced as the Keresők (The Seekers). Active only from 1909 to 1912 and mounting three joint shows, their impact on Hungarian cultural life was seismic—like a scientific and technological revolution shaking the arts. The same day, the first-floor dome hall fills with music as the Albert Schweitzer Chamber Choir and Orchestra deliver a Sunday concert with rich choral textures in a grand setting.
Tihanyi at Home, Onscreen
On February 3, explore the Lajos Tihanyi exhibition from your sofa with an online guided tour. It’s a chance to learn more about the painter’s restless vision without leaving home, as curators and guides unpack his life, influences, and bold aesthetics in an interactive digital format.
Kids’ Studio: Time Travel Through Pictures
February 4 launches Color It Anew!—a museum workshop for children that asks how people once lived and what pictures tell us about the past. Using paintings, genre scenes, portraits, and old photographs, kids peek into everyday lives: what people used, wore, played with, and dreamed of. Inspired by the artworks, they draw, paint, make comics, and invent their own stories. The workshop returns on February 11 and 18 with the same creative journey.
Tihanyi, the Restless Charmer
February 5 features a special guided tour: Lajos Tihanyi, the Restless Charmer, led by art manager Nóra Winkler and art historian Tünde Topor. Also on February 5, Look, Mom! – The Beauty of the Human Body turns the spotlight on the nude as a recurring subject reflecting shifting ideals. The tour explores the renewed exhibition Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century, a fresh look at one of art history’s oldest themes.
From Budapest to Abstraction
On February 6, writer and art historian Rita Halász guides Budapest–Berlin–Paris: Lajos Tihanyi’s Path to Abstraction. Born 140 years ago, Tihanyi was central to the Nyolcak (The Eight), and his work stands as a thrilling early-20th-century avant-garde experiment. Follow how café culture at the fin de siècle, Berlin’s cutting-edge scenes, and Parisian modernism shaped his style—right up to his leap from figuration to the autonomous language of pure color and form.
Creating With the Body
February 7’s Create! – Naked Reality engages the body as both subject and tool. After a gallery walk spanning depictions of the human form from the 19th century to today, participants turn their own body parts into artistic instruments to make direct body prints. Also on February 7, a guided tour unpacks A Silent World: The Art of Adolf Fényes (1867–1945), exploring the memorial exhibition and connected works in the permanent collection. The day rounds off with Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors—The Art of Lajos Tihanyi, celebrating his 140th anniversary with major paintings, graphics, and personal objects. Deaf from childhood, Tihanyi drew colors and forms from silence, forging an unmistakable voice without formal academic training.
Panoramas, Paris, and Family Trails
February 8 keeps the Tihanyi momentum with another guided tour and adds an architectural walk, From Crypt to Cupola. Explore the former Royal Palace’s hidden wonders: the Habsburg Palatine Crypt, the panoramic dome, and more. Francophones can join Budapest–Berlin–Paris. L’art de Lajos Tihanyi, a French-language guided tour that unlocks his visual universe.
From Venice to Toddlers’ Carnival
On February 10, Tots – Venetian Carnival whisks little ones to Italy’s most theatrical city for elegant masked balls and processions. Expect rides, dancing, role-play, and the crafting of essential carnival gear: a lavish mask to take home. Stay online that day for a guided tour of the Fényes exhibition, streaming straight to your living room.
More Tihanyi, More Bodies
February 11 and 12 bring additional guided entries into Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – The Art of Lajos Tihanyi, reaffirming his place among the most original figures of 20th-century Hungarian painting. There’s another Look, Mom! – The Beauty of the Human Body on February 12, returning to the nude and changing ideals around depicting the human form.
Italian, English, and Love Stories
February 13 offers Visita guidata in italiano—a survey of Hungarian art from the Middle Ages to today, spotlighting the 19th and 20th centuries and perhaps even an encounter with Dante among the canvases. The same day: Rebellious Forms, Bold Colors – The Art of Lajos Tihanyi in English for international visitors. On February 14, art historian Gergely Barki delivers a bonus lecture, Two or None: Doublings and Gaps in Lajos Tihanyi’s Oeuvre, probing duplicates and disappearances. Valentine’s Day expands with The Most Beautiful Hungarian Paintings of Love, tracing happy, passionate, and stormy affairs through works by Pál Szinyei Merse, János Vaszary, and Róbert Berény. Rounding it out, a musical tour with Ádám Bősze and Gábor Bellák brings Budapest, Berlin, Paris—and the throbbing first decades of the 20th century—to life. And Love Is in the Air invites you to meet muses, lovers, and artists’ wives, showcasing the grandest and most tragic love stories in the collection.
Curators, Kids, and Carnival Transformations
On February 15, curator Ágnes Horváth leads The Art of Adolf Fényes, a guided immersion into the memorial show. February 19 revisits the human form in English with Look, Mom! – The Beauty of the Human Body, once again centering the renewed Nude Sculptures from the Turn of the Century. Kids return on February 21 for Adventure in the Gallery – Carnival Transformation, with guided tours split by age: 10:30–11:15 for 6–9-year-olds, and 11:30–12:15 for ages 10–13. The same day includes another guided tour through the Fényes exhibition, followed by a February 22 focus on turn-of-the-century nude sculptures—one of art’s oldest themes, always evolving with the ideals of its era.
