{"id":88456,"date":"2026-02-01T10:12:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T09:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=88456"},"modified":"2026-02-01T10:14:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T09:14:54","slug":"dealing-in-splendour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/dealing-in-splendour\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing in Splendour exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"#tickets\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendourtickets.jpg\" alt=\"Baroque column, railings &amp; exhibition poster\" class=\"wp-image-88459\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Subtitled <em>A History of the European Art Market<\/em>, the exhibition at Gartenpalais Liechtenstein offers much more than just an intriguing journey through the business of art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The evolution of the market in ten chapters<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rather lovely art on display, too<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8230;in gorgeous baroque rooms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And all with free entry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs Jan 30 &#8211; April 6, 2026<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a 2-hr <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_WalkingTours\" rel=\"sponsored\">walking tour<\/a>* of Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/liechtenstein-gartenpalais\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"80505\">Gartenpalais Liechtenstein<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"37363\">Exhibitions overview<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The art market through time<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"309\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour3.jpg\" alt=\"Paintings on a gallery wall\" class=\"wp-image-88462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour3.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour3-300x185.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\">(Look like works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. But they aren&#8217;t. Bandwagons aren&#8217;t a 21st-century invention. Press photo \u00a9 LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections Vaduz-Vienna)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Dealing in Splendour<\/em> is the 2026 edition of the annual exhibition at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/liechtenstein-gartenpalais\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"80505\">Gartenpalais Liechtenstein<\/a>, which was built by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein in the early 18th century. The building still looks as pristine as the day they cut the ribbon on the front gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know you&#8217;re somewhere special when the room for the press conference is a grand, columned, fresco-filled, baroque hall with marble flooring. And the first speaker is H.S.H. Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not quite the same vibe as my home office, sadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, the exhibition traces the evolution of the art market in Europe from antiquity to the early 1900s. It does this in a series of chapters, each highlighting a key development using a representative time and place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, for example, the appearance of art fairs is illustrated by the phenomenon of <em>Panden<\/em> exhibition rooms in Antwerp of the late 15th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suitable works of art and historical documents accompany us on the journey, and the result is rather impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"330\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour1.jpg\" alt=\"paintings in a library\" class=\"wp-image-88460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour1-300x198.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\">(Just a Rembrandt self-portrait in a magnificent baroque library. Press photo \u00a9 LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections Vaduz-Vienna)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the fundamental premise of the exhibition proves quite enlightening. We learn how the business of art had a significant impact on the history of art: talent and creativity marshalled and directed by market forces and business acumen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, the exhibition forces us to partially abandon our idealistic concept of the artist ploughing a personal field built from divine inspiration and some indefinable internal drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, we have art as a compromise between what you want to produce and what sells. Rembrandt, for example, found inspiration from auction sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, we have the art that illustrates each chapter&#8230;drawn from loans or the host&#8217;s Princely Collections. A treat in its own right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you see original 1st and 2nd-century Roman busts, the astonishing early-1700s gemstone-decorated Badminton Cabinet from Florence&#8217;s Galleria dei Lavori, and a golden house altar panel from the early 1400s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A woodcut by Albrecht D\u00fcrer, portraits by Titian and Rubens, a self-portrait by Rembrandt, a veduta by Piranesi, Klimt&#8217;s <em>Nuda Veritas<\/em>, three paintings of the parliament in London by Monet&#8230;you get the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"271\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour2.jpg\" alt=\"Three paintings by Monet\" class=\"wp-image-88461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dealinginsplendour2-300x163.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\">(Three Monets and a self portrait by Richard Gerstl. Press photo \u00a9 LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections Vaduz-Vienna)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Third, all this takes place in the rather lovely surrounds of the Gartenpalais. With the exhibition spanning two floors, you get to see rooms not open to general public view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The baroque majesty leaves you quite awestruck, particularly if, like me, you&#8217;re an author. Some of the exhibited paintings hang in the library: a treasure house of leather-bound tomes with titles like <em>Vitas Patrum. N\u00fcrnberg 1483<\/em> or <em>Guerre de Jules Cesar<\/em> (in three volumes, it should be noted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, <em>Dealing in Splendour<\/em> offers a triumvirate of artistic, historical and architectural joy. And all with free entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Dates, tickets &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Travel through the history of the art market daily from January 30th to April 6th, 2026 (10am to 6pm). Rather kindly, as noted above, the exhibition is free to view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can, however, pay to have a guide take you around. The palais offers English-language tours at 2pm on Mondays and Saturdays, which I strongly recommend you book in advance through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.palaisliechtenstein.com\/en\/visits\/special-exhibition-tickets.html\">the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get there<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The palais lies just outside the old town. If coming from the centre, your best bet is to jump on the D tram at somewhere like Schottentor or Burgring and get off at at Bauernfeldplatz or Seegasse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: F\u00fcrstengasse 1, 1090 Vienna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An intriguing look at the history of the European art market, top art, and a baroque palais host<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88458,"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":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-88456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sights","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88456","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=88456"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88474,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88456\/revisions\/88474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}