Albertina Modern’s inaugural exhibition in March

Following three years of intensive restoration and modernization, the historical Vienna Künstlerhaus will soon welcome visitors to it’s new tenant - Albertina Modern. The progeny of Albertina Museum, which remains just a nine minute stroll down the block, boasts an impressive collection of nearly 60,000 works by 5,000 artists. The building’s enormous expansion materializes years of discussions suggesting the Künstlerhaus’s complete integration with Vienna’s “museum cluster”.

Constructed in 1865, the Vienna Künstlerhaus was established by the Austrian Artists’ Society as an exhibition space. Now the oldest surviving artists’ group in Austria, 19th century members experimented with painting, sculpture, architecture in the Renaissance inspired building. A pivotal figure in the transformation of the Künstlerhaus gallery to its contemporary vision is museum director-general, Klaus Schröder. Schröder’s ambitious approach while converting the original Albertina Museum into an increasingly modern cultural center proved incredibly successful, cemented by the 2018 acquisition of the Essl Collection. Collection owners Karlheinz Essl and Hans Peter Haselsteiner passed on 1,323 contemporary artworks, the latter of whom would go on to patron a significant portion of the Albertina Modern renovations. Schröder’s directorship was extended by the Austrian culture ministry until 2024.

Albertina Modern’s inaugural exhibition The Beginning: Art in Vienna, 1945 to 1980 will open 13 March. The collection will feature Austrian and international post-1945 artists alike, including the following: Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Gottfried Helnwein, Gerhard Richter, Jonathan Meese, Hubert Scheibl, Jörg Immendorf, Arnulf Rainer, Hermann Nitsch, Neo Rauch, Hundertwasser, Annette Messager, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Rauschenberg, Kiki Kogelnik, Elke Krystufek, Roy Lichtenstein, Pierre Soulages, Maria Lassnig, Alex Katz, Sherrie Levine, VALIE EXPORT, Karel Appel, Franz West, Erwin Wurm, Georg Baselitz, Sarah Morris, Nam June Paik, Pipilotti Rist, Nan Goldin, Thomas Ruff, and many others. From 13 March, Albertina Modern will open daily from 10 to 6.