Budapest museum opens exhibition on Van Gogh and Gauguin artistic trip

The Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest opened a major exhibition this week exploring the artistic relationship between Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh.

The show, titled Bonjour Monsieur Gauguin: The Circles of Post-Impressionists and Symbolists, runs until 28 February 2027. It focuses on a specific trip the two artists took to Montpellier in December 1888 to visit the Musée Fabre.

The exhibition highlights how the pair sought to reconcile their personal tensions by viewing a collection of over 800 paintings. While Van Gogh was particularly moved by the portraits of Gustave Courbet, Gauguin found inspiration in a specific landscape by Courbet. Gauguin later painted a work in response to that piece, depicting himself as a solitary wanderer in a Breton fishing village. The show includes 80 works by Gauguin and 70 by his associates, including three works by Van Gogh.

The museum estimates that the exhibition could attract up to 350,000 visitors. Although the show explores a period of successful artistic exchange, it also covers the final days of the friendship before Van Gogh mutilated his ear just four days after their return from Montpellier. The exhibition features several key pieces, including Gauguin's Sunflowers on an Armchair, which was inspired by Van Gogh's favorite motif.