25 YEARS OF THE LEOPOLD MUSEUM – 25 PAINTINGS BY GUSTAV KLIMT

13.10.2026

Klimt – Schiele – Kokoschka: The World’s Most Extensive Presentations of the Three Iconic Artists of Viennese Modernism at the Leopold Museum.

With the presentation of the elegant lady’s portrait Lady en face with Pleated Blouse (1898) by Gustav Klimt, a new loan from the Klimt Foundation, visitors of the permanent presentation Vienna 1900 may now admire 25 paintings by this exceptional artist at the Leopold Museum.

The Leopold Museum’s international renown is closely linked to its unparalleled collection of artworks of the Vienna Secession and Austrian Expressionism. This unique art collection dedicated to Viennese Modernism is based on the private holdings compiled by the art collector Rudolf Leopold and has been supplemented over the years with eminent permanent loans. The collection impresses with the extraordinary artistic quality of the artworks as well as the great pluralism of media: The diversity of works on display – ranging from paintings via graphic works to exceptional objects of applied arts – is the key to the Leopold Museum’s success story. The around 1,000 exhibits featured in the permanent presentation Vienna 1900. Birth of Modernism allow visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of this incredibly creative and vibrant era. At the heart of the presentation, which showcases a range of different artists, are the three outstanding exponents of Viennese Modernism Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.

“The Leopold Museum is known for housing the largest and most eminent Egon Schiele collection in the world, as well as the most comprehensive permanent presentation of works by the Expressionist Oskar Kokoschka. Thanks to long-standing, excellent cooperations with various partner institutions, such as the Klimt Foundation, the Stiftung Sammlung Kamm and the Wien Museum, as well as with numerous private collectors, the Leopold Museum is in the fortunate position to celebrate its 25-year anniversary with a presentation of 25 paintings by Gustav Klimt, and to thus showcase the most extensive presentation of Klimt paintings in the world.”
Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Director of the Leopold Museum

The World’s Most Eminent Schiele Collection

The collection of the Leopold Museum is most renowned for its largest and most important compilation of works by the Expressionist Egon Schiele (1890–1918). Featuring a total of 300 works by this eminent artist, the compilation includes an impressive 48 Schiele paintings, most of which are shown in the museum’s permanent presentation. The collection further includes more than 200 works on paper, such as drawings, watercolors and gouaches. The museum was recently able to acquire an extensive mixed lot of some 950 Schiele documents – including sketchbooks, letters, postcards and photographs – to supplement its important collection of archival material on the artist which, in turn, provides the foundation for the Leopold Museum’s Schiele research and competence center.

New Addition to the Klimt Presentation: 25th Gustav Klimt Painting

As of now, the Leopold Museum’s equally impressive Klimt presentation features 25 paintings by the master, thus showcasing the internationally most extensive permanent presentation of his painterly oeuvre. Klimt’s work marks a radical turning point on the threshold to Modernism. The artist overcame Historicism and, as a co-founder and first president of the Vienna Secession, was the driving force behind the establishment of the Viennese variant of Jugendstil. His works represent a genius reflection of the intellectual climate of the Viennese fin-de-siècle which was strongly influenced by the psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud. In his masterpieces, such as Death and Life from the collection of the Leopold Museum, Klimt visualized the unconscious and the duality of Eros and Thanatos in an exemplary manner. Along with these paintings, the Leopold Museum houses 130 drawings by the painter, as well as a comprehensive collection of more than 300 items of archival material, most of which were entrusted to the Leopold Museum as permanent loans by Klimt’s direct descendants.

Largest Permanent Kokoschka Presentation

The Leopold Museum is home not only to comprehensive compilations of eminent works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele but also by Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980). The Austrian Expressionist outlived Schiele, who died in 1918 aged only 28 from the Spanish Flu, by more than 60 years. The museum showcases the world’s largest permanent Kokoschka presentation, featuring 17 paintings, including key works like Tre Croci – Dolomite Landscape (1913) and Self-Portrait, One Hand Touching the Face (1918/19). Further paintings, among them numerous permanent loans from private collections, allow visitors to retrace Kokoschka’s oeuvre from his early years, with works such as Nude Girl (1905/06), all the way to his late work, for instance the portrait of Chatin Sarachi (1959), both from the collection of the Leopold Museum.

Nine Million Visitors in 25 Years

Throughout the first 25 years of the Leopold Museum’s existence, more than 9 million exhibition-goers have flocked to the by far most-frequented institution in the Vienna MQ. With the Leopold Collection, the museum houses the most important collection on Viennese Modernism brought together by the passion of a private individual. The collector and museum founder Rudolf Leopold (1925–2010) brought his extensive art collection, including some 5,200 works, into the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994. The Leopold Museum was subsequently built especially for this collection, compiled by Rudolf Leopold since the 1950s with zealous dedication. 25 years ago, in 2001, the museum opened its doors to the public. Since then, the museum’s holdings have increased to nearly 9,000 works. These additions to the collection were made possible through donations – from individual works all the way to entire collections – as well as through the purchase of works sponsored by art patrons. Among the latest acquisitions are works by preeminent artists of the 19th and 20th century, including Marie Egner, Ludwig Heinrich-Jungnickel, Gustav Klimt, Hans Makart, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Max Oppenheimer, Egon Schiele, Olga Wisinger-Florian, and many others.

Vienna 1900. Birth of Modernism (permanent presentation)

Opening Times:

Open daily, except Tuesdays: 10 am to 6 pm
Open on public holidays. Closed on Tuesdays.

Opening Times During the Holiday Season:

From Mon., 7 Dec. 26 to Sun., 10 Jan. 27, the museum is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm, except for:
Thur., 24 Dec. 26 (Christmas Eve – closed) and 31 Dec. 26 (New Year’s Eve – open 10 am to 5 pm)

 

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