The Hungarian National Gallery is the country’s largest public collection, documenting how Hungarian fine art came to be and where it’s headed. Beyond the permanent and temporary exhibitions, you’ll find guided tours in multiple languages, themed programs, family days, festivals, and concerts. Kids are covered too, with creative clubs, art education workshops, and summer camps that make the museum feel like a playground for curious minds.
Color It Anew! Workshops for Kids
On November 26, the November session turns the museum into a stage. Children step into artworks and try on different roles—writing and acting out stories while crafting the essentials of theater: masks, puppets, headpieces, even set designs. Kings, queens, farm boys, goose-girl shepherds—just remember, it’s all play.
December sessions on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th take kids on a winter journey through Hungarian art: icy landscapes, warm interiors, magical stories, and festive prep. Saint Nicholas, Mary, and baby Jesus make appearances, followed by hands-on making in the studio inspired by what they’ve seen and heard.
Tihanyi 140: Bold Forms, Brave Colors
On November 27, the Gallery celebrates the 140th birthday of Lajos Tihanyi with a full-scale retrospective of his most important paintings, graphics, and personal objects. Losing his hearing in childhood, Tihanyi conjured colors and forms out of silence and found a unique voice in paint without academic training, becoming one of the most original figures of The Eight (Nyolcak) and 20th-century Hungarian art.
Curator Mariann Gergely leads a tour on November 28, tracing how, until the 1970s, Tihanyi’s works were known at home mostly through black-and-white reproductions, and how his estate arrived at the Gallery from Paris 55 years ago after a rather adventurous journey. More guided tours on December 6, 11, and 21 deepen the dive into his radical vision, while art historian Gergely Barki’s unconventional walk-through on December 12 puts the person behind the palette center stage. On December 3, MÚZEUM+ profiles Tihanyi as both openhearted friend and innovative icon—a chance to meet the man and the modernist.
“Mama, Look!”—Everyday Light and Maternal Echoes
November 27 spotlights Adolf Fényes, a painter who lets sunlight pour even into modest interiors, enlivens markets with near-fairytale energy, and treats daily life with the weight of history painting. Expect questions like: How does a peasant courtyard sit in the shadow of French Impressionism? What links a Szolnok veranda to Paris? And what do century-old genre scenes whisper about simple joys and sorrows?
On December 4, “Mama, Look! — Maternal Parallels” searches for Jesus and the Virgin Mary across paintings, panels, and sculptures, tracing how the mother-and-child motif returns from the Middle Ages through modern and contemporary art. An English-language companion on December 18, “Look at that, Mom! — Reflections of Motherhood,” follows the same timeless thread for international visitors.
Lectures, Layers, and Festive Vibes
November 29 brings art historian Gábor Bellák with The Last Painter of Beauty: Adolf Fényes, part of a lecture series designed to add layers you won’t catch in the gallery space—stories, connections, curiosities that only show up under a magnifying glass. On December 12, there’s also an Italian-language guided tour introducing Hungarian art’s key masterpieces from the Middle Ages to today, with a special focus on the 19th and 20th centuries—and perhaps a cameo by Dante among the canvases.
From Crypt to Dome
Architectural walks on November 30 and December 14 open doors to the former royal palace’s hidden marvels: the Habsburg Palatine Crypt, the dome with its sweeping panorama, and other remarkable corners. Along the way, the story of the building and the Hungarian National Gallery’s collection comes into focus.
Advent Magic and Hands-On Making
December glows with seasonal programs. On December 6, Create! — Golden Holiday dives into Saint Nicholas’s legend and the radiant history of Gothic altarpieces and gilding, before participants decorate small cloths with golden paint, using altar motifs to create table-ready shimmer. December 7 brings writer and art historian Rita Halász with an unconventional tour, Expectation and the Miracle of Birth—quiet Advent feelings, soft enchantment, and works that hold the hush of the season. On December 10, Intellectual Fitness — Christmas Miracle invites visitors to step into the contemplative world of paintings and altars, then make something inspired in the studio.
Fényes for the Holidays
On December 13, Holiday Moods with Adolf Fényes serves everything festive: tastes, snowy scenes, Christmas toys, the music of angels, even the scent of fir. The Fényes memorial show takes center stage, with links to the permanent collection threaded in. December 16’s Toddlers — Shooting Stars is a calm winter afternoon for little ones to follow a bright celestial guide through old altars, listen to angels sing, crunch across an imaginary snowy landscape, and explore the magic of white paint—then craft for the holidays.
Family Day with Csontváry
On December 20, the Gallery’s Family Day—Christmas Prep with Csontváry—mixes art, play, and seasonal mood into a package that’s actually special before the big day. Come for the shared making and stay for the spark that keeps kids engaged and adults smiling.
And After Christmas: More Tihanyi
The Tihanyi 140 momentum keeps rolling on December 21, and even December 27 promises more Rebel Forms—because when a painter forged a universe out of silence, there’s always another angle to see, another color to hear, another form to feel.
