The Museum der Moderne Salzburg has two buildings at two different locations in
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
, Austria. The Rupertinum in the old town for new artistic concepts opened in 1983 and the Museum on the Mönchsberg for modern art in a contemporary setting opened in 2004.
History
The idea for the foundation of a collection and museum of modern art goes back to an initiative of Salzburg art dealer
Friedrich Welz
Friedrich Maximilian Welz (born 2 November 1903 in Salzburg; died 5 February 1980 there) was an Austrian art dealer and Nazi party member investigated for art looting.
Biography
Welz Gallery
Friedrich Welz took over his father's picture frame ...
, who donated a large part of his private collection to the state of
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
. Owing to his personal friendship with
Oskar Kokoschka
Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense Expressionism, expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the ...
the museum also received a great number of works from the Austrian
expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
.
Museum der Moderne Rupertinum
![Zungenbärte Hundertwasser](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Zungenb%C3%A4rte_Hundertwasser.JPG)
In 1983 the Rupertinum was opened as ''Salzburg Museum of Modern Art and Graphic Collection''. The museum's founding director Otto Breicha also integrated the ''Austrian Photographic Gallery'' into the museum, which has become the most important collection of contemporary Austrian photography. The Rupertinum, situated in the centre of the old town, was mentioned for the first time in 1350. Under archbishop Paris Lodron, the town palace "Collegium Rupertinum" was used as seminary. Finished in 1633, the town palace was built in early baroque style. The house has a prominent location between Franziskaner Church and Kollegien Church and has been used as seminary by the
Archdioceses of Salzburg for many centuries.
Until 1974 the Rupertinum was used as student dormitory. In 1983 the Rupertinum was opened as Salzburg Museum of Modern Art and Graphic Collection.
Over the years the facilities of the Rupertinum have been adapted to comply with international standards; the most extensive refurbishment took place in 1999. Today the building offers ideal conditions for exhibitions of graphics and photographs. On Max-Reinhardt-Square the building opens into a courtyard typical for houses of Salzburg’s old town.
Museum der Moderne Mönchsberg
![Salzburg - Museum der Moderne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Salzburg_-_Museum_der_Moderne.JPG)
Perched on top of the steep cliff of
Mönchsberg
The Mönchsberg, at above sea level, is one of five mountains in the Salzburg, city of Salzburg in Austria. It flanks the western side of Altstadt Salzburg, Salzburg's historic city centre, and forms part of the Historic Centre of the City of Sal ...
mountain, sixty metres above Anton-Neumayr-Square, the ''Café Winkler'' has dominated the city for decades. When the casino moved into the baroque
palace Klessheim on the outskirts of Salzburg, the Café Winkler stood empty for many years and this landmark building that served as a counterpoint to the medieval fortress lost its splendour.
In 1998, on the initiative of
Landeshauptmann
Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute'') is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol an ...
Franz Schausberger the state of Salzburg launched an international architectural competition for the construction of a new building for a museum on Mönchsberg. An 11-member jury chaired by
Luigi Snozzi
Luigi Snozzi (29 July 1932 – 29 December 2020) was a Swiss architect, born in Mendrisio, Ticino. He worked in Locarno and Lugano.
Life
He studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. From 1962 to 1971, Snozzi worked in asso ...
, selected the design of the Munich-based team of architects Friedrich Hoff Zwink from among 145 submissions. The museum was built in three and a half years and offers maximum possibilities for a variety of exhibition formats on four levels. The entire outer facade is clad with local
Untersberg
The Untersberg is the northernmost massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps, a prominent spur straddling the border between Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. The highest peak of the table-top mountain is the Berchtesgaden Hochthron at .
T ...
marble, separated by vertical joints.
When the Museum der Moderne Salzburg on Mönchsberg was opened in October 2004, the former Rupertinum Collection of the province of Salzburg was integrated into the new concept of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Since September 2013 Dr.
Sabine Breitwieser
Sabine Breitwieser (born April 6, 1962 in Wels, Austria) is an Austrian curator, art manager and publicist.
Life
After studying law in Linz, Breitwieser obtained her doctorate in law at the University of Vienna. She was initially coordinator an ...
is the new director of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. She followed Toni Stooss who was more than 7 years director of the Museum.
The two buildings of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg offer 3,000 m
2 of exhibition space for thematic and monographic exhibitions of 20th- and 21st-century art, as well as presentations of graphics and photography.
Collections
The exhibitions and activities in both museum buildings show modern and
contemporary visual arts. Apart from the presentation of international works of art, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg also serves as platform for contemporary representatives of the Austrian art scene.
Besides
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
s and
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
s the museum owns an extensive collection of
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
. A further focus of the collection is Austrian
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
after 1945.
Further, the museum manages the photographic collection of the Republic of Austria ''Österreichische Fotogalerie'' as well as the photographic collection ''Fotografis'' of the
Bank Austria
UniCredit Bank Austria AG, branded and widely referred to as Bank Austria, is an Austrian bank, 96.35% owned by Milan-based UniCredit. It was formed in 1991 by merger of Vienna's Länderbank and Zentralsparkasse, acquired Creditanstalt-Bankverei ...
as a permanent loan.
Directors
* Friedrich Welz
* Otto Breicha
* Peter Weiermair
*
Agnes Husslein
Agnes Husslein, also Agnes Husslein-Arco, (born 22 May 1954) is an Austrian art historian and art manager.
Life
Husslein was born the daughter of Felicitas (''née'' Boeckl) and Carl Heinrich Arco in Vienna (1920–1978).[Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...]
’s opera “
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...
” were inscribed on the facade in rhythmically positioned slots using a special computer programme.
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Art museums and galleries in Austria
Tourist attractions in Salzburg