THE LEOPOLD MUSEUM’S 2026 NEW YEAR’S RECEPTION
15.01.2026
Circle of Patrons and Salon Leopold
The Directors of the Leopold Museum, Hans-Peter Wipplinger and Moritz Stipsicz, hosted a New Year’s reception on Tuesday, 13th January, together with Georg Pölzl, head of the Circle of Patrons (COP), and Catharina Knobloch, a committee member of the Salon Leopold. Some 250 invited guests from the areas of art, culture, business and politics enjoyed an atmospheric evening in a relaxed setting. Director Hans-Peter Wipplinger afforded insights into the upcoming exhibition program and seized the opportunity to present an eminent donation.
The Guests
The distinguished guests included the French ambassador Matthieu Peyraud, the Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Khymynets, Leopold Museum board members Josef Ostermayer and Danielle Spera, Gertrud Aichem-Degreif (German embassy), Marion Faber-Ölschlägel, Georg Riedl, Albin Hahn (Manner), Bernhard Mechtler (KPMG), Dieter Türmer (Casinos Austria AG), Horst Mathä (Lazard Asset Management), recruitment consultant Agnes Schaumann, Andrea Unterberger (Akris), entrepreneur Markus Scheer, Angela Baillou (Christie’s), Martin Böhm (CEO Dorotheum), Martin Kovacek (CEO im Kinsky), the artists Martha Jungwirth, Erwin Bohatsch, Robert Comploj, Plamen Dejanoff, Andreas Duscha, Tyrone Egbowon, Peter Kogler, Constantin Luser, Magda von Hanau and Walter Vopava, the architects Laurids Ortner, Manfred Ortner, Maria Planegger, Andrea Frank and Boris Podrecca, Silvie Aigner (CEO Parnass), Siegmar Schlager (CEO Falter), the collectors Philipp Otto Breicha, Werner Trenker, Sonja Zsolnai-Kasztler, Brigitte Löw-Radeschnig, Kathrin Weber and Waltraud Leopold, Josef Meichenitsch (director OeNB), Herwig Romé (Money Museum OeNB), Chiara Galbusera (curator of the OeNB’s art collection), Bruno Ducluzaux (director Institut français). The board of the Leopold Museum’s Circle of Patrons was represented by Sabina Baumgartner-Parzer and Thomas Baumgartner, architect Hermann Eisenköck, Harald Friedrich (LLB), Agnes Husslein-Arco and attorney Clemens Philipp Schindler, while Jakob Jelinek and Jürgen Pölzl attended the reception on behalf of the Salon Leopold’s committee. Also in attendance were Peter Goldscheider, Bernhard and Elisabeth Hainz, the gallery owners Karoline Hilger, Marie-Valerie Hieke, Ebi Kohlbacher, Maximilian Thoman, Heike Fischer (Kulturformat), Edith Frauscher (Infoscreen), photography expert Monika Faber (Bonartes), art expert Andrea Jungmann, Jutta Rohrbacher, Charlotte Kreuzmayr, jeweler Wolfgang Köchert, Gudrun Marecek (CEO Nitsch Foundation), studio manager Michael Wurm, Dania Kwizda-Dejanoff (Spark Art Fair), Benno Pichler (Zone Media), Barbara Potisk-Eibensteiner (Post AG), violinist Yuri Revich, Ursula Rohringer, art historian Thomas Zaunschirm, Susanne Tabaka-Pillhofer, graphic designer Nele Steinborn, Sascha Worrich, and many others.
Eminent Kokoschka Donation for the Leopold Museum
Thanks to the generous donations given during last year’s Fundraising Dinner, the Leopold Museum was able to acquire a late work by Oskar Kokoschka, created in 1959. The painting shows the Albanian painter and diplomat Chatin Sarachi (1899–1974) who was close friends with Kokoschka. The two artists created portraits of one another at their joint studio in London’s Kensington district, and left behind an extensive mixed lot of reciprocal drawings and paintings. Kokoschka’s likeness of Sarachi – bearing the dedication “for my Chatinus february 1959 OKokoschka” on the reverse – is a testament to their friendship. Characteristic features of this work are the dissipated glowing color planes that make up the background and the light brushwork.
In the spring, the work will be presented to the public as part of the permanent presentation Vienna 1900.
Preview 2026
Celebrating 25 years since its inception, the Leopold Museum’s 2026 exhibition program includes the first comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the French artist and rebel Gustave Courbet in Austria, highlights from the impressive art collection of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, a juxtaposition of works by the Austrian painter Herbert Boeckl with sculptures by the Swiss sculptor Hans Josephsohn, as well as a spotlight on German and Austrian photography of the 1920s and 30s.
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