Collector, Founder and Museological Director of the LEOPOLD MUSEUM

Professor Rudolf Leopold was born on March 1, 1925 in Vienna, and obtained his doctoral degree in medicine in 1953. During his medical studies, he began to attend art history lectures and to collect paintings and objects of art at the same time, above all, works of the then little-respected Egon Schiele.

With an exhibition of modern Austrian art put together by Leopold in 1955 in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, the hitherto unknown Schiele suddenly moved into the front rank of European artists. Schiele exhibitions followed in Innsbruck (1963), London (1964), and, together with works of Gustav Klimt, in New York’s Guggenheim Museum (1965). In 1968, to mark the 50th anniversary of Schiele’s death, three exhibitions were held in Vienna. In 1975, a major exhibition was organized in Munich.

In 1972, Rudolf Leopold published a critical catalogue of Schiele’s works with a detailed list of his motifs. From 1989 to 1991, the exhibition „Egon Schiele and His Time“ was displayed with great success in Zurich, Vienna, Munich, Wuppertal and London. In 1995/1996, Rudolf Leopold exhibited 152 personally selected works by Schiele in Tübingen, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. Additional stops in 1997 included Graz, New York and Barcelona. In the summer of 1998, the exhibition „Egon Schiele – The LEOPOLD COLLECTION“ was held in Schiele’s hometown of Tulln. In the fall of the same year, a selection was exhibited in Innsbruck. For the World Expo 2000 in Hanover, more than 230 artworks were displayed at the Kestnergesellschaft Institute.

In 1994, with support from the National Bank of Austria, the LEOPOLD MUSEUM PRIVATE FOUNDATION, which contains over 5,000 artworks from the collection, was founded by Leopold and the Republic of Austria. The first task of the foundation was to grant public access to the comprehensive collection through the construction of a new museum. In 1997, Rudolf Leopold was awarded the Cross of Honour for Art and Science, First Class. In 2001, the LEOPOLD MUSEUM opened its doors to the public.

Rudolf Leopol died on 29 June 2010, his funeral took place at Grinzinger Cemetery on 06 July 2010.