Current blockbuster exhibitions in Vienna
Vienna’s major museums open first-rate special exhibitions at the beginning of every fall season. The range of exhibits on display in Vienna is always extremely broad. In fall 2023, there will be something to suit every taste: savor the great masters of the Renaissance, who are presented in Vienna as idols for artistic posterity, alongside feminist avant-garde and expressionist artworks. Discover Vienna’s unique museum scene with this selection of current blockbuster exhibitions.
Don’t forget that you can find more information about current exhibitions and a summary of Vienna’s museums in the Museums & Exhibitions section of our website
Raffael. Gold and Silk
09.26.2023-01.14.2024, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
This fall season at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (KHM) is all about monumental tapestries. The special exhibition offers a glimpse into the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s excellent tapestry collection, which for conservation reasons can unfortunately rarely be displayed. Large-scale, artistically designed tapestries became enormously important during the Renaissance. Raffael’s originals dating from 1483-1520 are the showpiece of the exhibition. Another highlight is the seven-part series on the deadly sins based on sketches by Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-1550). This is the first time these tapestries will be on display in Vienna since 1981.
Michelangelo and Beyond
09.15.2023-01.14.2024, Albertina
Visitors can also encounter Raffael and many other world-renowned artists in the Albertina: exceptional pieces of art demonstrate the artistic treatment of the human body. The exhibition starts with Michelangelo (1475-1564), one of the most prominent masters of the Renaissance. His perception of the “ideal body”, his power of expression and his pursuit of beauty and perfection had an enormous influence on later generations. The exhibition also features a number of works by artists ranging from Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt to Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele.
Louise Bourgeois. Persistent Antagonism
09.22.2023-01.28.2024, Lower Belvedere
In a European first, the Belvedere presents the oeuvre of Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), who is considered the mother of the feminist avantgarde, in the form of a major solo exhibition. The artworks produced by the Franco-American artist in the 1940s create an exciting dialog when juxtaposed with her later sculptures, installations and graphics. The exhibition hosted in the baroque rooms of the Lower Belvedere is another highlight in this anniversary year – in 2023, the Belvedere is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the construction of the Upper Belvedere.
Max Oppenheimer. Expressionist Pioneer
10.06.2023-02.25.2024, Leopold Museum
The Leopold Museum has put together a long overdue, large-scale exhibition this fall that sheds new light on the oeuvre of the Austrian painter, Max Oppenheimer (1885-1954), who has unjustly been largely forgotten. The exhibition also explores the Viennese expressionist artist’s relationship with his contemporaries Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. Although Oppenheimer had a friendly relationship with Schiele and also worked with him, his relationship with Kokoschka was defined by rivalry.
Robert Motherwell. Pure Painting
10.12.2023-01.14.2024, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien
The Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien is dedicating its fall exhibition to the fascinating works of Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) and displaying the first retrospective of the great American artist in Austria since 1976 and in Europe since 1998. Motherwell was a co-founder of the New York School and one of the most important figures in the abstract expressionism movement. The exhibition comprises around 40 representative works from Motherwell’s oeuvre and brings major loaned artworks from important private collections and large, predominantly American museums – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago – to Vienna.
