Profile

The ALBERTINA museums profile and focus rest on three pillars: First, the palace with its neoclassical staterooms and their original interior decoration; second, the operation of a modern museum housing seven principal collections; and, third, the exhibition program based on these collections and devoted to the pioneers of art history, from the Renaissance to the present day.

The ALBERTINA museums seven principal collections

• The Graphic Art Collection

  The ALBERTINA Museum’s Graphic Art Collection, comprising about a million works of art, is one of the largest and most renowned collections of prints and drawings around the globe, with international holdings spanning the period from 1400 to the present day. Exhibitions based on the holdings of the graphic art collection regularly take place at the Tietze Galleries for Prints and Drawings.

• The Collection of Modern Painting – The Batliner Collection

  Highlights from this collection, ranging from Impressionism and Pointillism to Fauvism and Expressionism, from New Objectivity and the Russian avant-garde to Surrealism and Picasso, are on view in the permanent exhibition Monet to Picasso. The Batliner Collection.

• The Contemporary Art Collections

  Important holdings from the ALBERTINA Museum’s collections, from the Batliner Collection, and from the most recent acquisition in the form of a permanent loan, the Essl Collection, are on regular display at the Galleries for Contemporary Art.

• The Photographic Collection

  The Photographic collection of about 100,000 prints spans the period from photography’s beginnings to the present. Exhibitions based on the holdings of the Photographic collection and dealing with the history of photography are regularly held at the Galleries for Photography.

• The Architectural Collection

  This collection, preserving some 40,000 architectural drawings, plans, and models, covers the period from the late Middle Ages to our day.

• The Collection of Period Furnishings

  This collection comprises the original furnishings and decoration of the ducal and archducal palace and residence that have been repurchased: apart from Louis Seize furniture and paintings made for Duke Albert, they include above all the neoclassical furnishings commissioned by Archduke Carl in 1822 from the furniture manufacturer Joseph Danhauser and the subsequent interior decorations commissioned by Archduke Albrecht and Archduke Frederick in 1865 and 1895 respectively.

• The Essl Collection

  The museum’s newest addition, which above all augments the museum’s holdings of contemporary art, is the Essl Collection. The Essl Collection encompasses approximately 5,000 artworks, of which around 3,000 are by Austrian artists and around 1,700 are of international origin.
  Due to its size and independent character, the Essl Collection will be shown at the Vienna Künstlerhaus—the ALBERTINA Museum’s second location—beginning in 2019. The objective is to afford the public permanent access to Austrian art created since the founding of the Second Austrian Republic. Up to now, no such presentation has ever been created by an Austrian museum. Furthermore, certain important works from the Essl Collection will be made available to Austria’s ten largest art museums as long-term loans for their permanent collections.