Heavy metal fashion

Imagine being weighed down by a suit made of iron or steel. Actually, as I was told during a tour of the current exhibition at Vienna´s Kunsthistorisches Museum, KHM, men wearing these metal carapaces were able to walk, run and jump in it. That must have taken some muscle power, in addition to agility, butContinue reading “Heavy metal fashion”

Majolica Magic

Yesterday was International Museum Day, so I am one day late with a museum post, but actually, every day is museum day, right? On Monday the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna had a very special evening: Notte della Maiolica Italiana – Night of Italian Majolica. Why Italian? Because for one, the ItalianContinue reading “Majolica Magic”

Renaissance Women at the KHM

At the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien you can currently still visit a very beautiful exhibition of luminous portraits of women dating back to the Renaissance, with works from several collections around the world. Titian´s Vision of Women is on only until 30 January 2022. I was lucky enough to be invited to see it before itContinue reading “Renaissance Women at the KHM”

I see you in black and white

One brand-new exhibition at the Albertina Museum is a must-see for photography lovers. (Actually there is another one that I also recommend at the Albertina Modern, part of the Essl Collection, but more on that another time.) The new photography exhibition Faces. The Power of the Human Visage showcases works by photographers from the 1920sContinue reading “I see you in black and white”

Big on drawing

One brand-new, one that I almost missed, but thankfully did not: two exhibitions in black and white (and grey) are currently on view at the Albertina Museum. And wow, are they worth seeing! Shortly after Vienna´s museums re-opened after lockdown, I took the opportunity to visit Black White & Grey, an exhibition of contemporary large-scaleContinue reading “Big on drawing”

An Ode to Joy: Beethoven Moves

It is never too late to be moved by Beethoven. Ludwig van Beethoven spent a good many years living in Vienna, where he died in 1827, and he was without a doubt one of the great representative of the First Viennese School of the Classical period. Beyond being a great composer, he was also aContinue reading “An Ode to Joy: Beethoven Moves”

City of Images

EXHIBITION REVIEW: For the third year in a row, the small town of Baden near Vienna has become an outdoor photography gallery. Billed as the largest European photography festival, the exhibitions are spread all across downtown Baden´s streets and parks. In times of the Covid-19 pandemic, there could not be a more ideal setting for a “museum visit” than to stroll around in the open air, enjoying the outstanding photography and the greenery, stopping in between for coffee and cake in one of Baden´s many coffee houses. I visited on a warm September afternoon, when people were still lounging about on picnic blankets and in outdoor cafes. The exhibition runs until 26 October 2020.

This is important

The impressive portraits by the German-Italian photographer Luigi Toscano of surviving victims of Nazi atrocities on Vienna’s Ringstrasse were damaged three times during their showing in Vienna.   In these pictures Luigi Toscano confronts us with large-scale versions of the faces of contemporary witnesses, survivors of the Holocaust, with eyes that look directly at you, seriousContinue reading “This is important”