On April 6, 1901, by joining the forces of artists’ tables functioning in various cafés, 100 artists declared the establishment of the club at a special meeting, and they also created the necessary starting fund out of their own resources.

Among the founders were: Gyula Benczúr (painter), Sándor Bródy (writer), Gyula Csortos (actor), János Fadrusz (sculptor), Adolf Fényes (painter), Sándor Góth (actor), Gyula Hegedűs (actor), Jenő Heltai (writer), Jenő Hubay (composer), Pongrác Kacsóh (composer), Károly Kernstok (painter), Ödön Lechner (architect), Ferenc Molnár (writer), Árpád Ódry (actor), Imre Pethes (actor), József Rippl-Rónai (painter), Kálmán Rózsahegyi (actor), Alajos Stróbl (sculptor), Pál Szinyei Merse (painter), Ede Újházi (actor), and János Vaszary (painter).

The name of the club (Fészek – ’nest’ in Hungarian) is an acronym based on the idea of Gyula Zilahy, a member of the National Theatre.

F – Festők (painters); É – Építészek (architects); S – Szobrászok (sculptors); Z – Zenészek (instrumental musicians); E – Énekesek (singers); K – Komédiások (comedians, i.e., actors).

They moved into a building – bought, converted, and furnished from the artists’ own donations – in downtown Budapest, at the corner of Kertész and Dob Streets on September 7, 1901. It provided a place both for socializing and for presenting their most recent works.

The club operated as a country-wide association from 1901, and it still does. Since January 1, 1998, it has been classified as a prominently public-benefit organization.

The artists rebuilt the building, destroyed by bombing in World War II, from their own money again, and they restored its worldwide fame.

The club was nationalized in 1949. It was first placed under the supervision and sustenance of the Ministry of Culture, then under those of the trade union of art workers, while the Ministry of Culture continued to provide for the maintenance of the building. It was renovated in 1963 – the former Art Nouveau building and its furniture, unfortunately, lost their original interior design and took on an eclectic style.

In 1989, Fészek regained indepence, and later the ownership of the four-storey building as well, with an area of 3738 sq m (4471 sq yd). The club is entirely self-sustaining with a membership of around 1000 individuals (artists and supporting members).

In recent years, the events have attained major significance. They include concerts, literary and theatrical evenings, exhibitions, exclusive professional shows and related professional debates, meetings of professional tables and circles, and the activity of the arts library.

The institution, working as a cultural centre for professional artists and arts, hosts very high-quality contemporary and classical arts events. These can either be experienced only here, or here for the first time. On average, 25,000 people visit the 650-700 events of the club in a year, and more than 100,000 people take part in the informal social life.

The club building includes a restaurant and a late-night basement bar.

Fészek publishes a monthly programme booklet and sends it to members. Copies are available to the public at the reception desk, open 24 hours a day. The public may purchase tickets for club events.

Fészek has not had the means for decades to maintain its furniture and high-value historic building, and they have considerably deterioriated. Yet, the function of the club should be even today to provide an informal meeting place and a high-end entertainment and information venue for those in the cultural life as well as those in financial, business, political, and diplomatic circles. (However, it would require surroundings like this circle’s own apartments.)

Fészek is ambitious enough to envision a wider role: as a meeting place for the leading intellectuals of Europe, with its artist members as hosts.

As a club for all the arts, Fészek Artists’ Club is still a unique organization in the world.