“NEW SPIRITS. THE ZEITGEIST OF MODERNISM”: ATMOSPHERIC FUNDRAISING DINNER AT THE LEOPOLD MUSEUM

22.09.2025

The Comprehensive Autumn Exhibition Hidden Modernism. The Fascination with the Occult in Vienna Around 1900 Provided the Elegant Setting for the Exclusive Event

Under the heading New Spirits. The Zeitgeist of Modernism, the Directors of the Leopold Museum, Hans-Peter Wipplinger and Moritz Stipsicz, hosted an atmospheric soirée, centered on the reformist aspirations and occultist movements around 1900. Guests were welcomed by the Wiesenthal sisters – pictured on a photo wall in the museum’s atrium – whose modern dance heralded an entirely new style of movement in Austria, devoid of rules and conventions.

Hidden Modernism

The exhibition Hidden Modernism. The Fascination with the Occult Around 1900 took guests on a journey into an alternative, hidden Modernism and to Vienna as experienced at the time by the proponents of Nietzsche and the disciples of Wagner – a time when people delved into Theosophy, conjured spirits, tilted tables and held séances. Around 1900, Europe experienced the need for a new spirituality and a life in harmony with nature. An air of renewal also breezed through Vienna, where artists found new means of expression in modern dance. The artworks from the time mirror a mystical, often other-worldly attitude towards life. The exhibition explores the era’s critical stance towards religious practices, which went hand in hand with an enthusiasm for Far-Eastern scenarios of salvation. The time’s cult of the body, alpinism, vegetarianism, dress reform, modern dance and Theosophy were all symptoms of the kind of ethical revolution demanded by Nietzsche. The enthusiasm for Wagner’s oeuvre permeated all areas of cultural life, while his ideal of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art, was of vital importance to the Vienna Secessionists. Unlike Paris or Prague, Vienna was not a hub of occultism. The Theosophy espoused by the writer Helena Blavatsky nevertheless reached Vienna’s vegetarian circles. Among its protagonists was the polymath Friedrich Eckstein, whose network included the composer Gustav Mahler, the founder of Anthroposophy Rudolf Steiner and the Social Democrat politician Victor Adler. The fluid figures painted by Edvard Munch, the belief in the existence of Odic rays affording vital energy, and the discovery of X-rays yielded artistic impulses that culminated in introspective depictions by the likes of Richard Gerstl, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and Max Oppenheimer, who rendered the protagonists of their paintings as auratic apparitions.

Fundraising Dinner and Raffle

The successful soirée – the total proceeds of which will be used to support the museum’s agendas, among them the preservation of objects from the collection and the development of art education programs – included a staggering surprise performance by the mentalist Harry Lucas, an exclusive dinner with a seasonal harvest-inspired menu, as well as an exquisite prize draw. All this was made possible thanks to the support of numerous sponsors. The champagne was provided by Joseph Perrier, the wine makers Wieninger and Schloss Gobelsburg served up red and white wines, Ottakringer delighted the hearts of beer enthusiasts, the petit fours were offered by Ströck bakery, while Vöslauer refreshed guests with their mineral water. The raffle included tantalizing prizes, such as a luxurious Akris handle tote bag, diamond-studded earrings by Skrein jewelers, an artwork by Hermann Nitsch, kindly provided by the Nitsch Foundation, as well as many others.

The Guests

The event hosted by the Leopold Museum was attended by around 320 notable personalities from the world of business and culture, among them the board members Josef Ostermayer, Sonja Hammerschmid and Saskia Leopold, Alexander Schallenberg (former Federal Chancellor of Austria), Ralph Müller (CEO Wiener Städtische), Iris Ortner (IGO Industries, PORR, UBM), Robert Lasshofer (chairman of the supervisory board of Wiener Städtische), Walter Oblin (CEO Post AG), Barbara Potisk Eibensteiner (CFO of the board of Post AG), Harald Friedrich (deputy chairman of LLB / board member of the Leopold Museum’s Circle of Patrons), Michael Strugl (chairman of Verbund AG), university professor Sabina Baumgartner-Parzer (MedUni Wien) and Thomas Baumgartner (board member of the Leopold Museum’s Circle of Patrons), Martin Böhm (CEO Dorotheum), Michael Kovacek (CEO im Kinsky), Rupert Keim (CEO Karl & Faber Kunstauktionen), Angela Baillou (CEO, Christie’s Austria), Eva Donnerhack (Head of Fine Art Sales Germany at Sotheby’s), entrepreneur Christian Knobloch (CKV Gruppe / board member of the Leopold Museum’s Circle of Patrons), Christiane Wenckheim (chair of the supervisory board of Ottakringer), Siegfried Menz (chairman of the board of Ottakringer), Matthias Koppensteiner (chairman PKE Holding), Eugen Otto (CEO Otto Immobilien), Dieter Türmer (Casinos Austria), entrepreneur Lothar Wesemann, artists Xenia Hausner, Eva Schlegel, Erwin Bohatsch, Adrian Kowanz, Constantin Luser and Hubert Scheibl, Stefan Ottrubay (chairman Esterházy Foundations), collector Waltraud Leopold, entrepreneur and collector Werner Trenker and Sonja Zsolnai-Kastzler (MED Trust), Peter Umundum (board member of Post AG), attorney Bernhard Hainz (CMS), collector Cornelius Broere, Horst Mathä (Lazar Asset Management), Helmut Schoba (CEO VGN), attorney Clemens Philipp Schindler (Schindler Attorneys / board member of the Leopold Museum’s Circle of Patrons), Katrin Weber (partner at Torggler Rechtsanwälte) and Axel Anderl (managing partner at Dorda), collector Franziska Hausmaninger, Michaela Kamler (Michara) and Franz-Hesso zu Leiningen, collector Brigitte Löw-Radeschnig, Reinhard Hofbauer (Zumtobel Lighting), Martin Wlacil (CEO Print Alliance), Maria Planegger (A01 architects), architect Andrea Frank, opera singer Clemens Unterreiner (artistic director of Festival Oper Burg Gars), MQ director Bettina Leidl, Günther Oberhollenzer (Künstlerhaus Wien), Florian Steininger (Kunsthalle Krems), Marie Skrein (Schmuckwerkstatt Skrein), Marion Faber-Oelschlägel (Kussmund), Christian Bertsch (VISTA), Christine Wegscheider (Salon Wegscheider), Andreas Plamann (CEO siwacht), Jakob Piringer (hs art), Catharina Knobloch (CKV Gruppe / Salon Leopold committee), Rudolph Lobmeyr, Juan Muino (Ogilvy & Mather), collector Florian Staudinger, gallery owners Susanne Bauer, Karoline Hilger, Claudia Kovacek-Longin, Sylvia Kovacek, Katharina Zetter-Karner, Alexander Barvinskyi and Rosaura Cauchi, Ebi Kohlbacher and Lui Wienerroither, art experts Marianne Hussl-Hörmann (Dorotheum), Claudia Mörth-Gasser (im Kinsky), and many others.

APA photo gallery

© Leopold Museum, Wien/APA-Fotoservice/Tanzer

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