The exhibition will now close on April 1, rather than March 20.
The museum's Zoltán Lévay told culture.hu that the permission of more than 30 lending institutions had been required to extend the exhibition. Paris's Musée D'Orsay was the most recent to allow its works to remain in Budapest for another two weeks, he said.
Extending the exhibition will not cost the museum any more than originally planned, as it is not paying any lending fees, but only covering the cost of shipping the works, Lévay said. He added, however, that the extension had required much negotiating and coordination.
About 350,000 visitors have seen the exhibition so far, but his number is expected to rise to 400,000 with the extension, making Van Gogh in Budapest the most successful exhibition ever in Hungary, beating Monet and Friends, which attracted 250,000 visitors, and the National Gallery's 2005 Munkácsy exhibition, which drew 360,000 visitors.
Van Gogh in Budapest is open every weekday from 9:00 to 20:00 and on weekends from 9:00 to 21:00. With a special ticket, visitors can see the exhibition until 22:00 as part of the museum's Van Gogh+ programme.
At the exhibition's last weekend, the museum's doors will remain open 24 hours a day.
Source: Gabriella Valaczkay
