Vienna 1900! Klimt, Moser, Gerstl, Kokoschka. Exhibition, The Leopold Museum, Vienna: 18 January-10 June 2018

2018 marks 100 years since the deaths of four of Viennese Modernism’s chief protagonists: the painters Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, the architect Otto Wagner, and the universal artist Koloman Moser. To celebrate the significance of their work, Vienna is devoting a year-long series of exhibitions and events to commemorate the anniversary of Viennese Modernism.

As part of this, on the 18th January, The Leopold Museum launched an exhibition which focuses on the work of four of the movement’s protagonists: Klimt, Moser, Gerstl and Kokoschka, alongside an unparalleled variety of Viennese artwork from the period. The exhibition recreates the atmosphere and artistic aesthetic of that time, and summarises the artistic revolution that took place in Vienna around 1900.

The exhibition boasts Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life which won him first prize in the Universal Exhibition of Rome in 1911 and was one of the last paintings he finished before his death. We can appreciate a selection of expressive and radical self-portraits by Oskar Kokoschka, the ‘enfant terrible’ of the Viennese art scene, including One Hand Touching the Face (1918/19), and two iconic large-scale self-portraits by Richard Gerstl.

Also on display is the emblematic painting Venus in the Grotto (1914) as well as examples of furniture, artisan craftwork and posters created by the ‘artist of a thousand talents’ Kolo Moser, co-founder of the visual arts production company Wiener Werkstätte. And last but not least, as the Leopold Museum is home to the most comprehensive collection of works by Egon Schiele, the exhibition also displays a wide selection of outstanding works by said artist.

Leopold Museum

Museumsplatz 1

1070 Wien

Opening hours

Daily, 10.00-18.00

Thursday, 10.00-21.00

Tuesday (September-May), closed