The World Famous Albertina Museum in Vienna Delights Our AKN Editor

Written by Kevin Grossburg Wednesday, 16 May 2012 22:45

The Albertina is one of the most visited museums in Austria and a highlight for Vienna-travelers. The name Albertina was established in 1921. In March 1945, the Albertina was heavily damaged by bomb attacks. The Albertina was completely refurbished and modernized from 1998 to 2003, but the graphics collection did not reopen until 2008. The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 68,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well as more modern graphic works, photographs and architectural drawings. Apart from the graphics collection the museum has recently acquired on permanent loan two significant collections of Impressionist and early 20th century art, some of which will be on permanent display. The museum also houses temporary exhibitions.The Albertina in Vienna is one of the most important art collections in the world. Since 1805 it has been founded in one of the most magnificent neoclassical palaces in Europe: the Palais Albertina. To safeguard the unity of their distinguished collection in perpetuity, the Batliners set up the Herbert and Rita Batliner Art Foundation, which transferred the artworks to the Albertina as a permanent loan. Together with works from the Swiss collection of Eva and Mathias Forberg, which is also on permanent loan to the Albertina, around 100 works from the Batliner Collection are on display at the Albertina in a permanent new exhibition that traces the development from Impressionism to modern art. Since May 2009, the Albertina has been presenting a permanent exhibition from its own holdings. This has become possible through the transfer of the Batliner Collection to the Albertina in 2007. Outstanding works by Paul Klee from the Carl Djerassi Collection and major works from the collection of Eva and Mathias Forberg complete the new presentation, which is additionally rounded off by exhibits from other collections handed over to the Albertina. The permanent exhibition spans the most fascinating chapters from more than 130 years of art history, from Impressionism to the most recent present. Paintings by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Miró, Klee, Kandinsky, Chagall, and other masters offer a survey of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, the Fauves, Expressionism, and the Russian avant-garde. With late works by Picasso and exhibits by Rothko and Bacon, the exhibition leads over to the second half of the twentieth century, before it ends with works by contemporary artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter. Although the Albertina is a state museum, it is particularly fortunate because it gets a larger proportion of its budget from the private sector than other museums in Austria. The museum's original collection was started during the 18th century by duke Albert of Saxen-Teschen (after whom the museum has been named), together with Genoan count Giacomo Durazzo, who was at the time the Venetian ambassador to Austria. In Giacomo Durazzo's words, the purpose of the museum is to "gather a collection for later generations that serves a higher meaning than any other purpose: education and the strength of morality, distinguishing this collection from all others". The Albertina is a must see for any art lover visiting Vienna. View website at : http://www.albertina.at

The Albertina in Vienna is one of the most important art collections in the world. Since 1805 it has been located in one of the most magnificent neoclassical palaces in Europe: the Palais Albertina. The name comes from the collection's founder Duke Albert von Sachsen-Teschen (1738-1822). The Batliner Collection is augmented by works from the Forberg Collection in Switzerland, which was also transferred to the Albertina on permanent loan. Herbert and Rita Batliner began collecting art nearly half a century ago. Due to their close friendship with the legendary art dealer Ernst Beyeler, French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting formed a cornerstone of the collection from the very beginning, along with the work of; Edgar Degas, Two dancers, around 1905; Alberto Giacometti. Exceptional works by Monet such as The Water-Lily Pond, Edgar Degas’ Two Dancers, or Cézanne’s Arc-Tal and Mont Sainte-Victoire landscapes attest to the couple’s passion for French art; Picasso became an additional focal point. Today he is represented in the collection with over 40 works, including ten paintings and numerous drawings and one-of-a-kind ceramics. In the course of his travels, Herbert Batliner gained familiarity with Russian avant-garde art. He and his wife were inspired by the works they saw in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, to build their own fine collection of Russian avant-garde art from 1905-35. The focus of their acquisitions was on Marc Chagall, but they also sought out works by Natalia Goncharova, Liubov Popova und Mikhail Larionow. The collection also includes a major work by Kazimir Malevich, painted as a defiant memory image immediately following the artist’s release from a Stalinist prison. Special Collections and Archives : including; around 360 sketchbooks, predominantly by Austrian and German artists of the 19th and 20th century, including precious examples of works by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka; around 300 miniature works, including precious masterpieces by Jean Baptiste Isabey, Friedrich Heinrich Füger and Moritz Michael Daffinger; roughly 24,000 posters and poster designs from between 1870 and the present. Prime of place must be accorded the numerous posters made by artists in the early days of poster art. Worth a particular mention are the works by Alfons Maria Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Josef Hoffmann, Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele; the collection of historic sheets, comprises several hundred graphic art prints from the 16th to the 19th century, documents historic events and personalities of Europe, with a focus gravitating towards Vienna; illustarted books, cimelia and portfolios, including masterpieces ranging from examples of early book art to large-scale, exclusive portfolios of contemporary art; and the archives devoted to individual artists. Current exhibitions include William Kentridge - "Five Themes" and Roy Lichtenstein - "Black & White" until May, 2011. A major "Blue Rider" exhibition opens 4 February featuring the works of August Macke, Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, and other artists of Blue Rider fame.