The Lentos Art Museum (German: Kunstmuseum Lentos) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

of modern art in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, which opened in May 2003 as the successor to the (New Gallery of the City of Linz). The museum was designed by Zurich-based architectural firm Weber & Hofer. It is long and has approximately of floor space. The building's transparent glass

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

is illuminated at night. It is located directly on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

between the Nibelungen Bridge and

Brucknerhaus The Brucknerhaus () is a festival and congress centre in Linz, Austria named after the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. The building was designed by Finnish architects Heikki and Kaija Siren. Its construction took place from 1969 to 1973. It op ...

History

One hundred twenty important art works from the collection of the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

art dealer

Wolfgang Gurlitt Wolfgang Gurlitt (15 February 1888 – 26 March 1965) was a German art dealer, museum director and publisher whose art collection included Nazi-looted art. Family and friends He was grandson of the painter Louis Gurlitt, and son of the art ...

(1888–1965), including

paintings 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 ai ...

and graphic works by Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka, Nolde,

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...

and Pechstein, became the foundation of the collection of the New Gallery of the City of Linz after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Adding to these holdings, in 1953, Linz made the New Gallery a city museum with an active exhibition and acquisition programs. In 1998, the decision was made to build the Lentos Museum, which opened in May 2003. The museum presents significant themes and issues of contemporary art by displaying works of various schools of modern art from the Lentos collection and by exhibiting works of 20th century art on loan from other museums.

The collection

The museum collection includes around 1500 works from the areas of painting,

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 ...

and object art, over 10,000 works on paper, and about 850

photographs A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...

, including significant contributions to the development of artistic photography (A. Rodtschenko, Man Ray, H. Bayer). The earliest works among the museum's holdings are from the first half of the 19th century (C. D. Friedrich, J. B. Reiter). From the area of classical modernism the Lentos collection includes important paintings by Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka,

, and Pechstein. The collection also covers the inter-war period with works from German and Austrian Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). The period after 1945 is exemplified with works and ensembles of international art, including paintings, sculptures and graphic works by Karel Appel, Ernst Wilhelm Nay,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig (8 September 1919 – 6 May 2014) was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness".Attias, Lauri''Maria Lassnig'', ''Frieze'', May 1996. She was the first female artist to win the Gran ...

Markus Lüpertz Markus Lüpertz (born 25 April 1941) is a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. He also publishes a magazine, and plays jazz piano. He is one of the best-known German contemporary artists. His subjects are characterized by suggest ...

Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer (born 8 December 1929) is an Austrian painter noted for his abstract informal art. Rainer was born in Baden, Austria. During his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism. In 1950, he founded the ''Hundsgruppe'' (''dog grou ...

Eduardo Chillida Eduardo Chillida Juantegui, or Eduardo Txillida Juantegi in Basque (10 January 1924 – 19 August 2002), was a Spanish Basque sculptor notable for his monumental abstract works. Early life and career Born in San Sebastián (Donostia) to P ...

, Tony Cragg,

Gottfried Helnwein Gottfried Helnwein (born 8 October 1948) is an Austrian-Irish visual artist. He has worked as a painter, draftsman, photographer, muralist, sculptor, installation and performance artist, using a wide variety of techniques and media. His work is ...

Sean Scully Sean Scully (born 30 June 1945) is an Irish-born American-based artist working as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and photographer. His work is held in museum collections worldwide and he has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee. Moving fro ...

Anthony Caro Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (8 March 192423 October 2013) was an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using ' found' industrial objects. His style was of the modernist school, having worked with Henry Moor ...

Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer ...

, Elke Krystufek, Ludwig Merwart, and others.

Internationality of the sculpture collection

The sculpture collection holdings are continuously expanded through active acquisition policies. Since May 2004 the Viennese curator, critic and journalist Stella Rollig has been the director of the Lentos Art museum. In addition to the existing collection, modern art and the most current trends in contemporary art are presented in changing exhibitions.

Nazi-looted art and provenance research

For the Lentos Museum of Art the legacy of the Gurlitt Collection is "as brilliant as it is problematic". Wolfgang Gurlitt, a close contact of the director of the

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Führermuseum, Hermann Voss, was investigated for Nazi art looting in 1946, along with other members of the Gurlitt family. Wolfgang Gurlitt's art collection, which the museum purchased in, included artworks that had been looted by Nazis from Jewish collectors. The museum undertook provenance research to establish the origins and ownership history of the collection and the city of Linz created a dedicated provenance working group in 2007. As of 2019, 64 works of art had been investigated, of which 13 paintings were found to have looted art. Artworks restituted to the families of the Jewish collectors plundered by the Nazis include: * 1999: Lesser Ury, ''Die Näherin'' he seamstress(Inv. no. 138) * 2003: Egon Schiele, ''Stadt am Fluss'' own on the river(Inv. no. 13) restituted to the heirs of

Daisy Hellmann Daisy Hellmann (1890-1977) was a Viennese art patron and collector persecuted by the Nazis because of her Jewish ancestry. Early life Daisy Hellmann (née Steiner b. in Vienna April 22, 1890 - 5 January 5, 1977), was a member of one of the most i ...

* 2009: Gustav Klimt, ''Damenbildnis'' ortrait of a lady(Inv. no. 149) restituted to the heirs of Aranka Munk * 2011:

Wilhelm Trübner Wilhelm Trübner (February 3, 1851 – December 21, 1917) was a German realist painter of the circle of Wilhelm Leibl. Biography Trübner was born in Heidelberg. He was the third son of a silver- and goldsmith, Johann Georg Trübner, and h ...

, ''Bildnis Carl Schuh'' ortrait of Carl Schuh(Inv. no. 104'') Settlement'' with the heirs of Harry Fuld * 2012: 6 paintings by Anton Romako: ''Mädchen mit aufgestütztem Arm (Tochter des Künstlers)'', 1875, Inv. no. 10; ''Der Zweikampf (Kämpfende Ritter)'', Inv. no. 81; ''Zigeunerlager'', Inv. no. 83; ''Mädchen mit Früchten'', um 1875, Inv. no. 103; ''Ungarische Puszta (Strohschober in Bálványos)'', about1880, Inv. no. 104; ''Bildnis Karl Schwach'', 1854, Inv. no. 145 restituted to the heirs of Oskar und Malvine Reichel (on loan to the Lentos) * 2015:

Lovis Corinth Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism. Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Sec ...

, ''Othello (Der Mohr)'', 1894, (Inv. Nr. 23) and Lovis Corinth, ''Schwabing (Blick aus dem Atelierfenster)'', 1891, (Inv. Nr. 24) restituted to the heirs of Jean and Ida Baer * 2015:

Emil Nolde Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of th ...

, ''Maiwiese (Maienwiese)'' eadow in May 1915, (Inv. Nr. 94) restituted to the heirs of Dr. Otto Siegfried Julius Not all the artworks have been verified yet and provenance research continues.

Bibliography

* Van Uffelen, Chris. ''Contemporary Museums - Architecture, History, Collections'', Braun Publishing, 2010, , pages 146-149.

External links

*
Provenance Research

Website of the architect's office Weber Hofer Partner
(Pictures, plans)
360° VR Panorama pictures from the Lentos Art Museum

References

{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Austria Buildings and structures in Linz Museums in Upper Austria Art museums established in 2003 2003 establishments in Austria Tourist attractions in Linz