The Hungarian National Gallery’s new temporary exhibition Biedermeier Lifestyles opened at the end of October. The material – mainly comprising Hungarian and Austrian paintings as well as graphic pieces, furniture, attires and other objects of everyday use – presents the prominent style of the early decades of the nineteenth century based on the Gesamkunstwerk, or total artwork approach. Besides iconic Hungarian Biedermeier paintings, visitors can also see works by the greatest masters of the period’s Viennese art scene. The large-scale exhibition displaying more than 300 pieces presents works by the most important Hungarian artists – József Borsos and Miklós Barabás – as well as those by Friedrich von Amerling, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Josef Danhauser and other great Austrian painters.

Based on the art material of the period, our exhibition presents the Biedermeier spirit, which was manifest in every facet of life, through the main stages and situations of people’s lives. The eleven sections of the exhibition guide visitors through the stages of human life (childhood and youth) and its horizons (birth and death) as well as the social relations (marriage and family), societal functions (everyday life and career), spaces (home and nature) and leisure time activities (pastime) of the individual.

The exhibition was preceded by a large-scale restoration project, thanks to which thus far undeservedly neglected pictures are displayed besides the well-known pieces. Most of the artworks come from public collections from Hungary – Hungarian National Museum, Budapest Historical Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts – and Austria, including the Belvedere in Vienna and the Wien Museum.

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue in Hungarian and English.

More information: https://en.mng.hu/exhibitions/biedermeier-lifestyles-art-and-the-rise-of-the-middle-classes-in-19th-century-hungary-1815-1867/