The 5 best art galleries in Budapest

This contemporary art gallery with its Spartan name (which is easy to misspell) opened in 2003 and has three small exhibition areas. The gallery is for up-and-coming and mid-career neo-avant-garde artists. They organise events for a close circle of collectors, and try hard to link contemporary art to an audience.

Attila Pőcze has put photography on the Budapest gallery map. He sells modern (i.e. 20th-century) and contemporary prints by Hungarian artists – all of them are duly itemised on the website. He never misses Paris Photo nor some other art fairs. His gallery overlooks a lovely secret green spot downtown.

Hans Knoll has sister galleries in Vienna and Budapest. He has been representing artists in Budapest for over 20 years. His Budapest gallery is housed in a first-floor apartment in a busy square with many cafes, and is very influential in the art scene.

Gallerist Károly Szalóky opened his gallery in 1990, when communism ended and Hungary was free again. Thanks to him Várfok utca gradually became known as a gallery street. His gallery consists of two spaces, plus 19 triangular-shaped glass boards around 19 trees along the sloping street, showcasing reproductions printed on foil.

Around the corner of a busy neighbourhood nicknamed ‘The Broadway of Pest’, Erika Deák represents several artists – mostly painters, Hungarian as well as foreign. She works from this space but also regularly attends major art fairs abroad. Attila Szűcs is the biggest name on her list: he’s a major figure in the Budapest arts scene.