One of Budapest’s best streets for browsing, Falk Miksa utca runs from Kossuth tér
and Parliament to Jászai Mari tér and the Grand Boulevard. Lined with fine-quality antique shops and gorgeous galleries, Falk Miksa is the heart of the art trade in Budapest.
Approaching Falk Miksa utca from Jászai Mari tér, you are immediately greeted by a statue of Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo from the famed TV show. Standing beside his dog, he strikes his iconic pose while thinking up his next question. Lying beside them is a fallen meerkat, a jokey little statuette created by the Banksy of Budapest, Mihajlo Kolodko. On each side stand two titans of the local art trade, the Kieselbach Gallery, staging grand auctions selling century-old artworks and contemporary pieces, and BÁV, a three-storey pawnbrokers dating back to 1773.
Further towards Parliament, multi-story Virág Judit Gallery draws visitors into its museum-like space, filled with a vast collection of portraits, landscapes and still lifes by great Hungarians, all on view for free. On the other side of the street, brightly lit Citygraph is laden with Budapest graphics, showing highly detailed hand-drawn city maps, illustration and postcards, T-shirts, even fridge magnets and coloring books featuring key landmarks in miniature dimension.
Shops found along the gallery-lined thoroughfare regularly join forces for thematic events, such as the Falk Art Forum Antique and Modern Art Festival every spring, turning the entire street into a free cultural jamboree for a day. Find out about upcoming events on Falk Art Fórum’s Facebook page.
