Institutions
Albertina
In the Palais Erzherzog Albrecht – a historic Habsburg residence – the Albertina houses one of the largest and most valuable collections of graphic art in the world. It also presents important masterpieces of classical modernism as part of its “Monet to Picasso” display collection. From Albrecht Dürer’s “Field Hare” to Monet’s Water Lily Pond, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rubens – the Albertina guarantees an unforgettable visit.
On view:
Brigitte Kowanz – Light Is What We See
Jitka Hanzlová
The Viennese Bohème – Works From The Hagen Society
The viennacontemporary team recommends: Brigitte Kowanz – Light Is What We See
Albertina Modern
The Albertina’s second location, which is housed in the idyllic Künstlerhaus on Karlsplatz, has another large number of works from the Albertina. Even as a young institution, it has already established itself as a renowned venue among the major museums for contemporary art. Don’t miss the most important collection of Austrian art since 1945, the Essl Collection, as well as the Jablonka Collection.
On view:
Damien Hirst – Drawings
The viennacontemporary team recommends: Damien Hirst – Drawings
Belvedere
The Belvedere is not only a magnificent baroque palace, but also houses one of the most valuable art collections in Austria. It hold major works by Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and of course, Gustav Klimt. The stunning golden paintings “The Kiss” and “Judith” by Klimt are the core of the Belvedere collection and are on view here.
While the Upper Belvedere was used for representation, the Lower Belvedere served as Prince Eugene’s residential palace. Additionally, the gardens of the Belvedere are a highlight of Baroque landscape architecture.
On view at Upper Belvedere:
Carlone Contemporary – Sarah Ortmeyer
IN-SIGHT: Gustav Klimt – The Bride
On view at Lower Belvedere:
Radical! Women Artists and Modernism 1910–1950
Belvedere 21
Belvedere 21 is a hub for art production, reception, and reflection. The building, a significant example of Austrian post-war modernism, serves as a space for questioning and exploring society. The museum focuses on Austrian art from the 20th and 21st centuries in an international context. It offers various activities like art education, film screenings, lectures, and performances to engage with the public. The venue includes exhibition levels, a cinema, an art education studio, and a sculpture garden, as well as housing the Artothek des Bundes and Fritz Wotruba’s archive.
On view:
Jonathan Monk
Wotruba International
The viennacontemporary team recommends: Wotruba International
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
fjk 3 – Contemporary Art Space
fjk3 – Contemporary Art Space is a non-profit institution in central Vienna. Its architecturally distinctive spaces are located on the Donaukanal (“Danube Canal”) at the former site of the Secessionist construction and architectural ceramics company Brüder Schwadron. These premises were converted by propeller z architects into contemporary exhibition spaces extending over more than 650 square meters on several levels.
Founded in the fall of 2021 as an arts association, fjk3 brings together exhibition programming, artistic production, and interdisciplinary discourse. Its vision is oriented towards the heterogeneity and diversity of contemporary art and society and is open to all visual arts media and disciplines.
On view:
Susan Philipsz
Free admission
FOTO ARSENAL WIEN
FOTO ARSENAL WIEN is Austria’s new hub for photography and lens-based media. It offers inclusive spaces for all to explore and appreciate photography in its various forms. The international exhibitions showcase photography across analogue, digital, and moving images, blending historical and contemporary perspectives. Interactive communication strategies cater to younger audiences, fostering dialogues and workshops to engage with schools and institutions. The center aims to promote a vibrant collective image culture in diverse aspects of life.
Gemäldegalerie
For a century after its foundation in 1692, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna did not posses a proper collection of paintings – which was not unusual for contemporary European art schools. This, however, was changed by the generous donation of Count Lamberg-Sprinzenstein, who in 1822 bequeathed his famous collection of about 800 paintings to the imperial Academy.
As on of three significant collections of old master paintings in Vienna today, the main task of the Academy now is the public presentation of its paintings – both in its permanent display and in exhibitions-, to research the collection in detail, and to publish the results in the museum’s catalogue.
Heidi Horten Collection
The Heidi Horten Collection, a private art collection of international standing, opened in Vienna in June 2022. Housed in a historic palace dating back to 1914, the museum offers spectacular lines of sight and free-floating staircases to showcase the art. Founded by Austrian collector Heidi Horten (1941-2022) to preserve her artworks for future generations, the collection has evolved over the years to include works by artists such as Marc Chagall, Emil Nolde, Basquiat, and Richter. With a clear international profile, the collection features works from classical modernism, German expressionism, American pop art, arte povera, and the ZERO group, as well as contemporary and female artists.
On view:
Vienna, Vienna, Only You Wigand – Alt – Oláh
Jüdisches Museum Wien
The Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna is a place of urban diversity. Based on religious holidays and customs, it conveys the breadth of Jewish life in Vienna. Aspects of identity, integration and exclusion are discussed from a Jewish perspective through the history of relations between the Jewish and non-Jewish population. At its two locations, the Jewish Museum Vienna offers an insight into the past and present of Viennese Jews.
On view at Dorotheergasse:
130 Years Jewish Museum Vienna
G*d. Reflections between Heaven and Earth
No Room For Discussion?
Our City! Jewish Vienna – Then and Now
On view at Judenplatz:
Where have alle the Flowers Gone…
Our Medieval City! The First Jewish Community in Vienna
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Kahan Art Space
Kahán Art Space Vienna focuses on artists who work with current social, economic and political subjects. In this sense, art explores questions about our existence and co-existence, as these are also indicators of an open and democratic society after all.
A space for art and dialogue, Kahán Art Space Vienna was established in the second district of Vienna, where the editorial office of the Austrian political and social periodical DATUM and the office of the Austrian publisher of the German weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT are also located. A communication bridge between these institutions is created by KRAUS café and bar, which also serves as an additional event venue.
Free admission
Künstlerhaus
The Künstlerhaus on Karlsplatz in Vienna was built in 1868 and has been shining in new splendour since 2020. In addition to the traditional exhibition centre, it also houses the Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus and the Albertina modern museum. As a place of exchange and mediation of contemporary art, the Künstlerhaus is a lively centre of Vienna’s cultural landscape. The Künstlerhaus Association, founded in 1861, is committed to making contemporary art accessible to everyone.
On view:
Imagining Piece
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Kunst Haus Wien – Hundertwasser Museum
The Museum Hundertwasser is located in the KUNST HAUS WIEN, which was founded in 1991 by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, one of the most important Austrian artists of the 20th century. It was originally planned and built as a home for Hundertwasser’s work and was also equipped with rooms for international temporary exhibitions. The unique museum and exhibition centre on the Danube Canal continues to follow the philosophical and design principles of the famous exceptional artist.
On view:
Green Washing Vienna
Julius von Bismarck
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Kunsthalle
Kunsthalle Wien is the City of Vienna’s exhibition centre for international contemporary art and discourse. At its locations in the Museumsquartier and on Karlsplatz, it presents exhibitions of contemporary art and contextualises them in their social and political environment. It focusses in particular on research into artistic practices and supporting local and international artists. In view of the important role of art in processes of social change, Kunsthalle Wien is committed to the fruitfulness of artistic thinking in all areas of public life.
On view:
Nicola L.
Nora Turato
Ibrahim Mahama
The viennacontemporary team recommends: Ibrahim Mahama
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
The Kunsthistorisches Museum was built near the Hofburg to house the extensive collections of the imperial family. With its collection of important works and the world’s largest Bruegel collection, it is now one of the most important art collections in the world.
The Picture Gallery houses numerous major works of Western art, including Raphael’s “Madonna in the Green”, Vermeer’s “Painting”, the Infanta paintings by Velazquez, masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt, Dürer, Titian and Tintoretto. The antiquities and Egyptian-Oriental collections fascinate with treasures from enigmatic cultures of bygone times.
On view:
Imperial Impressions. The Emperor and their Court Artists
Mengs and Velázquez – The Princess of Naples
Shannon Alonzo – Washerwoman (Theseustempel)
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Kunstmeile Krems
The Kunstmeile Krems has a rich and varied cultural offer with numerous museums, galleries, art and music festivals. On a stretch of only one mile (1.6 kilometers), it affords you an opportunity to experience contemporary art forms of different genres in the historical ambience of the gateway town to the Wachau region.
Leading from the Minoritenkirche to the Dominikanerkirche with three concentration points along the way, the Kunstmeile Krems combines various different encounters with art and culture.
Within walking distance from one another, the art and culture institutions of the Kunstmeile Krems invite leisurely strolls and going for discoveries.
On view at Kunsthalle Krems:
Susan Rothenberg
Göksu Kunak – Bygone Innocence
Julia Belova (Dominikanerkirche)
On view at Landesgalerie Niederösterreich:
Christa Hauer. Artist. Gallery Owner. Activist
Heidi Harsieber – Full Spectrum. A Life With Photography
Flower Power – A Cultural History Of Plants
Regula Dettwiler – Unforgettable
Free admission at Kunstmeile Krems with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Leopold Museum
The Leopold Museum with the Leopold Collection is home to the world’s largest Egon Schiele collection with over 40 paintings and around 180 prints and is one of the most important international presentations of Austrian modern art.
The Leopold Collection is one of the world’s most important collections of Austrian art. The collection, compiled by Professor Rudolf Leopold (1925 – 2010) since the 1950s, brings together almost 6,000 exhibits and was transferred to the Leopold Museum Private Foundation in 1994.
On view:
Hidden Modernism – The Fascination With The Occult Around 1900
Vienna 1900 – Birth of Modernism
The Leopold Collection
The viennacontemporary team recommends: Hidden Modernism – The Fascination With The Occult Around 1900
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
MAK – Museum of Applied Arts
In a way that is virtually unparalleled by any other institution, the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts stands for the fruitful combination of the past with the future, something which can be clearly sensed and experienced when visiting its extensive collection, large exhibition halls, themed special exhibitions and discourse-centered program of events. Bringing together applied arts, design, architecture, and contemporary art is one of the museum’s core competencies.
On view:
Hito Steyerl – Humanity Had the Bullet Go In Through One Ear and Out Through the Other
Johann Strauss: Frantic Ecstasy
MAK Film Forum: Valentina Triet, Josef Dabernig
The viennacontemporary team recommends:
Hito Steyerl – Humanity Had the Bullet Go In Through One Ear and Out Through the Other
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
mumok – Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation
mumok is one of Europe’s largest and leading museums featuring art produced since the advent of modernity, which it collects, explores and exhibits to a wide art-loving audience. Located in Central Europe, it acts as a bridge between East and West and, being an internationally oriented museum, connects the local and global art scenes.
mumok presents art history and the present as vital, socially relevant processes. It conceives itself as a place of lively debate on modern and contemporary art.
On view:
Never Final! – The Evolving Museum
The World of Tomorrow Will Have Been Another Present
Kazuna Taguchi
The viennacontemporary team recommends: Never Final! – The Evolving Museum
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
museum gugging
Conceived as an exhibition centre for Gugging artists and the Art Brut movement, museum gugging shows the works of artists from Gugging at the place where they were created and is also a forum for international Art Brut.
With this orientation, museum gugging occupies a unique position in the Austrian museum landscape and is one of the most important exhibition centres for Art Brut internationally.
The museum gugging is orientated towards a high standard of quality and measures itself against international exhibition standards. Visitor friendliness, service-orientation, accessibility and bilingualism are a natural part of the museum’s culture.
On view:
gugging.! classic & contemporary UPDATE
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Neuer Kunstverein Wien
The Neue Kunstverein Wien (NKW) is an interdisciplinary space for exhibitions, artistic interventions and discourse. The aim of NKW is to offer Austrian and international artists a laboratory and a ‘free zone’ for the exchange, production and presentation of contemporary art that goes beyond the established institutions.
NKW brings artists into dialogue with exciting architecture and unusual locations in Vienna. In doing so, NKW utilises changing spaces and acts and reacts with its art projects to its respective urban and architectural environment.
Free admission
Secession
The Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession is the world’s oldest independent exhibition institution specifically dedicated to contemporary art.
The world-famous Secession building designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich and the works of the association’s founding members of the Secession were instrumental in defining the Viennese brand of Jugendstil. One key work of this epoch that is still housed—albeit with interruptions—at the Secession is Gustav Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze, created for the Secessionists’ XIVth exhibition in 1902. The theme of the frieze, the yearning for happiness, was inspired by Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
On view:
Atelier Bow-Wow
June Crespo
John Smith
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Sigmund Freud Museum
Wien IX, Berggasse 19. This is the address where Sigmund Freud lived and worked for 47 years before he had fled to flee from the Nazis in 1938. This place is known worldwide as the birthplace of psychoanalysis – it was here that Freud revolutionised the human self-image.
Extensively renovated and expanded in 2020, the Sigmund Freud Museum, founded in 1971, now displays all of the family’s private rooms as well as Sigmund and Anna Freud’s practices.
On view:
Freud, Berggasse 19
Olaf Nicolai: Trauer und Melancholie
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Das Weisse Haus
DAS WEISSE HAUS is a unique, self-organised art institution in Austria with a rich history. It is a complex organism whose main mission is to serve as a connection and meeting point between Vienna’s emerging professional art scenes and various communities and audiences, but also between international and local artists and art experts.
While the programme is presented in the physical exhibition space at Hegelgasse 14 in Vienna, part of it is continued digitally on the online platform dwhX.
Free admission
Wiener Aktionismus Museum
The Vienna Actionism Museum (WAM) is the result of a private initiative by several collectors with the aim of giving Viennese Actionism the necessary and deserved attention at the place where it was active. As one of the most important art movements of the 20th century, the WAM is intended to give Viennese Actionism a representative platform that will anchor it both nationally and internationally.
The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of the main exponents Günter Brus (1938-2024), Hermann Nitsch (1938-2022), Otto Muehl (1925-2013) and Rudolf Schwarzkogler (1940-1969) from the early 1960s and 1970s.
On view:
WHAT IS VIENNA ACTIONISM?
Free admission with viennacontemporary VIP pass
Wiener Staatsoper
The Vienna State Opera is one of the leading opera houses in the world. Its past is steeped in tradition. Its present is alive with richly varied performances and events. Each season, the schedule features 350 performances of more than 60 different operas and ballets. Every night, you can witness world-class artists alongside the permanent ensemble members on the stage and at the conductor’s desk, accompanied by a unique orchestra: the orchestra of Vienna State Opera, whose members at the same time make up the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.