Unrivalled Exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts and Hungarian National Gallery

The permanent exhibitions of the Museum of Fine Arts showcase the best of the Egyptian Collection, Collection of Antiquities, Old Sculpture Collection, Old Picture Gallery, Old Hungarian Collection and the Graphic Arts Collection.


The Museum of Fine Arts is the most visited Hungarian museum, having hosted numerous internationally renowned exhibitions in years past, including works by Botticelli, Bosch, Caravaggio, Cézanne, El Greco, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Schiele, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh, attracting millions of visitors over the years. 


Works of art from the Museum’s collection, including important works of Hungarian fine art, have been exhibited in many major Western venues. The Royal Academy of Arts (London), Kunstforum Wien (Vienna), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Rome), Musée d'Orsay (Paris), Palazzo Reale (Milan) and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid) have all hosted exhibitions of selected material from the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hungarian National Gallery (MNG).

GEORG BASELITZ: Without Trousers in Avignon VII (Ohne Hose in Avignon VII.), 2014, Etching and aquatint on paper (from two plates) 997 × 429 mm / 1255 × 650 mm Gift of the artist, 2020 (source: Szépművészeti Múzeum)

Until 16 July 2023, the Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a joint exhibition with the Csontváry Museum in Pécs, entitled ‘Csontváry170’,  to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the birth of Hungarian painter Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka. Between May and September, visitors can also see works by JuditReigl, as well as Baselitz and Schiavone. 


The Gallery is the largest public collection documenting and representing the evolution of fine arts in Hungary. Its collection ranges from the earliest Hungarian relics to contemporary arts: the Old Hungarian Collection, 19th-20th Century Painting Collection, Sculpture Collection and Medal Collection, Graphic Arts Collection, Contemporary Collection and the International Collection after 1800.

ANDREA SCHIAVONE AFTER PARMIGIANINO (1503–1540) The Entombment, ca. 1545–1550, Etching, heightened with white, on yellow tinted paper, 185 × 143 mm (sheet), Purchased from the Esterházy collection, 1871 (source: Szépművészeti Múzeum)

In recent years, the public got the chance to view works by Chagall, Dalí, Gauguin, Magritte, Modigliani, Monet and Picasso, as well as exhibitions of such notable Hungarian artists as PéterKorniss, László Moholy-Nagy, Mihály Munkácsy, Pál Szinyei Merse and József Rippl-Rónai. MNG is hosting an exhibition of the oeuvre of Lajos Gulácsy until August 2023, followed by a show entitled Technocool —The birth of the techno era in Hungarian Arts 1990-2001, as well as stereo photographs and postcard photographs from the collection of Fortepan and Deutsche Fotothek from autumn 2023 until spring 2024. 


Both institutions pay special attention to visitors with special needs, embracing the slogan “museums and culture for all”. Buildings are accessible, wheelchairs are available on site and escorts can be requested for the duration of a visit. Guided tours are available for blind and visually impaired visitors, including tactile and olfactory tours, and sign language interpretation is provided for the deaf and hard of hearing. Special requests can be made in advance at: muzeumpedagogia@szepmuveszeti.hu.

See also:

Budapest at the Gates of Heaven – as Interpreted by Pál Frenák

Photo: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: After the Luncheon (detail) 1879, Oil on canvas, Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum (source: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main)