Temporary Exhibitions

Living Architecture: Gehry

March 7–October 19, 2025

The exhibition in gallery 208 marks the launch of in situ, a new series of site-specific installations that push the boundaries of contemporary practices in dialog with the Museum’s architecture.

in situ: Refik Anadol presents Living Architecture: Gehry (2025), a groundbreaking audiovisual installation by Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol, a pioneer in the aesthetics of data visualization and AI art. Anadol reimagines Frank Gehry’s architectural legacy in a unique immersive experience in which the latter’s designs are reinterpreted and reimagined with the help of AI.

Using a custom-built AI model developed by Refik Anadol Studio that feeds on a vast archive of ethically sourced, open-access imagery, sketches, and blueprints, Anadol explores machines’ ability to “dream”, transforming Gehry’s architectural language into ever-changing landscapes with stunning abstract configurations. Living Architecture: Gehry unfolds across six interconnected chapters, surrounding visitors within the walls of the vast gallery 208, challenging their perceptions, and encouraging them to think about the impact of AI on the future of creativity and the way in which we understand the world through technology.

In the Didaktika educational area in gallery 204, we will find audio and video resources that will help you understand the creative process behind Refik Anadol and his multidisciplinary team’s works.

February 28–June 1

Masterpieces on Paper from Budapest spans seven centuries of European art while revealing the history of the holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. It shows a selection of works that are rarely on display because they are fragile, following the evolution of drawing and printmaking techniques over the centuries.

Gallery 205 shows drawings by the old masters, including Raphael and Rubens, always in search of anatomical accuracy and dramatic compositions. Their sketches and studies enable us to take a peek at the creative process behind their masterpieces.

Gallery 206 introduces the eighteenth century, with paper as a medium for experimentation in the delicate depiction of nature and everyday life. The landscapes and travel scenes on view reveal the curious and sympathetic eyes of artists looking at the world around them.

In gallery 207, artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Egon Schiele resort to free-hand strokes and expressive lines to explore human emotions, with unprecedented insight into the human psyche.

The exhibition comes to a close in gallery 209, where twentieth-century artists break away from tradition. Victor Vasarely, Gerhard Richter, and others explore abstraction, freeing lines and forms to find new avenues for artistic expression ‒ avenues that have led us to where we stand now.

February 21–June 1, 2025

Galleries 202 and 203 (level 2) host the retrospective dedicated to Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973), one of the pioneers of Brazilian Modernism.

The exhibition follows her career, from the early works – academic sketches and landscapes under the influence of Impressionism – to the vibrant depictions of rural Brazil and scenes of urbanization from the 1920s.

Tarsila lived, studied, and worked in Europe for long periods of time. She spent a few years in avant-garde Paris, surrounded by experimentation and innovation in art, and embracing Cubism. Fragmenting forms to reframe her roots, she struggled to meet the expectations of the Parisian art scene while building a modern Brazilian identity rooted in a melting pot of cultures.

Back in Brazil, she strengthened her ties to the land and this inspired works like Carnaval in Madureira (1924), showing pre-colonial traditions and popular scenes in bright colors with geometric shapes. Later, her work became more critical and lyrical. Paintings like Workers (1933) depict the Brazilian reality in more sober shades, associated with the world of labor.