{"id":59026,"date":"2023-04-05T03:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T02:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=59026"},"modified":"2025-09-10T08:55:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:55:41","slug":"amazing-wurth-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/amazing-wurth-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazing: the W\u00fcrth Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurthsmall.jpg\" alt=\"Part of a Sisley painting\" class=\"wp-image-59020\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurthsmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurthsmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The title is no coincidence. The <em>Amazing<\/em> exhibition at the Leopold Museum brings us a series of masterpieces covering the last 100 years of art; all drawn from the prestigious W\u00fcrth Collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Around 200 works<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Features Picasso, Beckmann, Richter, Magritte, Sisley, Lassnig &amp; many more<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs Apr 5 &#8211; Sept 10, 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/leopold-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4014\">Leopold Museum overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/\">Art and design exhibitions<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Exhibition of Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"378\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth1.jpg\" alt=\"Picasso's The Orange-Colored Blouse \u2013 Dora Maar\" class=\"wp-image-59018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth1.jpg 378w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth1-252x300.jpg 252w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 378px) 100vw, 378px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Pablo Picasso, The Orange-Colored Blouse \u2013 Dora Maar [Le corsage orange \u2013 Dora Maar], 21.04.1940 \u00a9 Photo: Volker Naumann, Sch\u00f6naich \u00a9 Succession Picasso\/Bildrecht, Wien 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine a magical door. But locked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind the door lies a treasure trove of art containing thousands of works from one of the world&#8217;s most prestigious private collections: everything from Holbein to Hockney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now imagine someone gives you the key to that door and says you can choose around 200 masterpieces for your own exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s what happened to the director of the Leopold Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result is the <em>Amazing<\/em> exhibition: a highlight tour through the last 100 years or so of art, drawing on works from the W\u00fcrth Collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exhibition stretches across two floors. One focuses largely on Classical Modernism, where you find the likes of Munch, Pissarro, Mondrian, Sisley, Magritte, not to mention a whole room full of Picassos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second floor tackles art of a more contemporary nature: Gerhard Richter, Per Kirkeby, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Georg Baselitz, Anselm Kiefer, and more. Austrian artists like Maria Lassnig and Arnulf Rainer also feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, the title <em>Amazing<\/em> feels entirely appropriate. After all, many of the names you see normally feature in their own solo exhibitions. One or two even have such exhibitions in town for part of the same period: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/picasso-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"57405\">Picasso<\/a>, for example, at the Albertina. Or Baselitz at both the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/georg-baselitz-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"57770\">Kunsthistorisches Museum<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/baselitz-100-drawings\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"60652\">Albertina<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"292\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth2.jpg\" alt=\"Max Beckmann's Quappi in Blue in a Boat\" class=\"wp-image-59019\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth2.jpg 292w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth2-195x300.jpg 195w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 292px) 100vw, 292px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Max Beckmann, Quappi in Blue in a Boat, 1926\/50 \u00a9 W\u00fcrth Collection, Photo: Volker Naumann, Sch\u00f6naich)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It all begins with three glorious sculptures by Tony Cragg (be sure to also view them through the window from the floor above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then we&#8217;re right into the chronology: first Max Liebermann, then Impressionism, Expressionism and onwards to contemporary genres. (Bring your art dictionary because the summary texts are fairly liberal with words like Dadaist and plein air.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finding highlights among highlights seems a foolish task. But one or two works managed to raise my eyebrows and drop my jaw. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Edvard Munch&#8217;s 1917 <em>Vampire<\/em>: love and pain in one (as it so often is)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Magritte&#8217;s 1953 panel from the <em>The Enchanted Domain<\/em> series: the light!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Max Bill&#8217;s 1973 gold-plated brass (?) sculpture <em>Double Surface in Space with two Delimiting Edges<\/em>: still don&#8217;t get how you create that effect, but that might be due to my artistic naivety<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Botero&#8217;s <em>Oswolt Krel<\/em> and his self-portrait (both in the style of Albrecht D\u00fcrer) from the late 1960s: wonderful<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gerhard Richter&#8217;s 1971 <em>Details (Kreutz)<\/em>: a flowing work that reminded me of Cragg&#8217;s sculptures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth3.jpg\" alt=\"Exhibition view of Amazing\" class=\"wp-image-59049\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth3.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wurth3-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Lisa Rastl: exhibition view of AMAZING. The W\u00fcrth Collection \u00a9 Lisa Rastl)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the first time these highlights have appeared in Austria, so <em>Amazing<\/em> represents quite a coup for the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reinhold W\u00fcrth is the man who built up the astonishing collection that bears his name. He took over his father&#8217;s small business in 1954 and turned it into a global player that now has over 80,000 employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Headquartered in the small town of K\u00fcnzelsau in the German state of Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg, the W\u00fcrth group is notable for its various cultural contributions to society. These include an orchestra (the W\u00fcrth Philharmoniker) and running five museum locations in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Numerous W\u00fcrth company buildings in other European countries also have built-in galleries. For example, the Austrian one (Art Room W\u00fcrth Austria) is in B\u00f6heimkirchen, around 50km due west of Vienna city centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Dates, tickets &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the highlights from April 5th to September 10th, 2023. Any valid entrance ticket from or for the Leopold Museum includes the special exhibitions inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Picasso features strongly in the exhibition. As mentioned earlier, make your way to the Albertina for more Pablo-flavoured delights. Their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/picasso-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"57405\">Picasso exhibition<\/a> (until June 18th, 2023) commemorates the 50th anniversary of his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get there<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow the travel tips at the bottom of the main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/leopold-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4014\">Leopold Museum article<\/a>. The exhibition occupies the bottom two floors (start at Floor -2 to view everything chronologically).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">(Article icon courtesy of the Met Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1i9IZX6LeUKth_5sm2EOO-SqQl8s\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The exhibition title is no coincidence. A series of masterpieces covering the last 100 years of art<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-59026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59026"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85703,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59026\/revisions\/85703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}