Autumn of art in Vienna

Vienna focuses on art and culture, reopening museums and extending exhibitions and events.

After the closure due to the health emergency, the museums of the capital organized themselves with safe visits and interesting initiatives supported by technology, while the most important exhibitions have been postponed towards the spring of 2021.

    The Sigmund Freud museum (freud-museum.at) reopens with more exhibition areas and many new features;

the cradle of psychoanalysis, at Berggasse 19, where Sigmund Freud lived and practiced for nearly half a century, now has larger rooms, a shop, a café and the largest library of books on psychoanalysis in Europe.

Three permanent exhibitions are scheduled for the reopening, a presentation of works of art and an extraordinary exhibition that will allow you to learn more about Freudian cultural heritage.

All exhibits focus on Freud's life and work, on the evolution, theory and application of psychoanalysis and its importance for society and in art The dates for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of his birth have also been extended by Ludwig van Beethoven: until January 10, 2021 the Gala Hall of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (onb.ac.at), the Austrian national library, hosts the event "Beethoven. Human world and divine spark" with the exhibition of sheet music autographs of his masterpieces, 130 original letters, pages from the Ninth Symphony and the autograph document of his only violin concerto (op. 61).

Mozart's house-museum (mozarthausvienna.at), at Domgasse 5, where Mozart and Hayden played together, will host the exhibition "The triad of Viennese Classicism: Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven. Analogies, Parallelisms and Contrasts" until 30 January 2022. .

It is an exhibition dedicated to the three giants of classical music, their friendship and their influence on the era in which they lived.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (khm.at) hosts until January 24, 2021 the exhibition "Beethoven moves" which pays homage to the artist with drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos and performances, while the Leopold Museum (leopoldmuseum.org) celebrates the year of Beethoven with a unique exhibition that will open on November 27 and will remain open until April 4, 2021: "Beethoven Inspiration. A symphony in images. Vienna 1900".

It is an exhibition that sheds light on the admiration that the artists of the Viennese Secession of the fin de siècle had for Beethoven's music, in particular Josef Maria Auchentaller, a Viennese exponent of the Liberty style and colleague of Klimt, who was inspired by the Sixth Symphony of Beethoven, called "Pastorale", he created a monumental pictorial cycle for the music room of the jeweler Scheid.

    Also in the lively museum district, the Mumok, the Ludwig Vienna foundation modern art museum (mumok.at), hosts two exhibitions until January 31, 2021: "Andy Warhol Exhibits a glittering alternative", dedicated to the famous American pop painter with works rarely exhibited to the public, and "Defrosting the Icebox", the painter's pioneering project with works that broke the standards of traditional museums.

    There are many contemporary art exhibitions that can be visited in the city;

among these until February 14, 2021 in the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien museum (kunstforumwien.at) you can admire the exhibition "Gerhard Richter: landscape", a great retrospective of the expressionist painter.

Until 13 April at the Weltmuseum Wien (weltmuseumwien.at), one of the most important ethnography museums in the world, there is the exhibition "The Aztecs" which sheds light on the legendary artistic and cultural production of the ancient Mexican population.

The museum on Heldenplatz has been completely renovated with 14 exhibition halls and rich collections from all over the world.

    But the real highlight of Vienna is the opening of the Albertina Modern (albertina.at/albertina-modern), the new museum for modern and contemporary art: set up as an annex of the famous Albertina museum, it houses over 2,500 meters square the most important Austrian art collection after 1945. Until 15 November you can admire the exhibition "Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse. The Hahnloser collection";

from 2 December to 5 April 2021 it will be possible to see the exhibition "Now: The Essl Collection", an overview of the Essl Collection with 150 masterpieces by the best known artists from 1960 to today with paintings, sculptures, objects, installations and videos.

In the brand new museum there is a meeting place for art lovers, the Ludwig & Adele Café mit Garten, which also offers excellent brunches on the weekend.

Finally, for the 150th year of its foundation, MAK (mak.at), the museum and space for experimentation for applied arts, proposes from 10 December to 18 April 2021 the exhibition "Josef Hoffmann. Progress through beauty", a presentation of architect, designer, teacher and curator Josef Hoffmann, an important figure of Viennese Modernism and the international "Lebensreform" movement.

The exhibition offers an insight into Hoffmann's revolutionary work in the field of design, as well as his major architectural projects, including the Palais Stoclet in Brussels or the Purkersdorf Sanatorium.

    For more information: vienna.info (ANSA).