Highlights and rarities

23.05.2014

100 master drawings from the Leopold Collection

The opening of the exhibition "LINE & SHAPE" at the LEOPOLD MUSEUM proved to be a veritable triumph for draftsmanship. Hundreds came to marvel at 100 master drawings from the Leopold Collection. From thousands of works, the exhibition’s curators, Leopold Museum Director Franz Smola and Fritz Koreny, selected a mixture of highlights and rarities to be presented from the 23rd of May to the 20th of October at the Leopold Museum.

Highly gifted draftsmen, epochal progress and sensitive material

In his opening speech, Franz Smola highlighted the works of Schiele, Klimt and Kokoschka for having made "epochal progress" in graphic arts around 1900. Fritz Koreny humorously pointed out that, seeing as drawings were created on the highly sensitive material paper, it was best not to exhibit them for too long or better still not to exhibit them at all. He expressed his fascination with the discovery of a crucifixion drawing by the German Impressionist Lovis Corinth, which turned out to be a sketch for an altarpiece created by the artist for his home town of Tapiau in East Prussia, which was sadly destroyed during the war. Elisabeth Leopold praised the merits of the collector and museum founder Rudolf Leopold, who after the war cherished works by the almost forgotten artists Schiele and Klimt, collected them and helped them achieve the international renown they were due, adding that, today, these highly gifted artists were hailed as the best draftsmen of the 20th century.

Details created by masters’ hands: Klimt and Schiele, Hodler and Dix

Guests at the opening crowded around the valuable drawings and studied interesting details of these works on paper created by masters’ hands. Featured prominently in the exhibition are works by the great masters of art around 1900 Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Alfred Kubin and Oskar Kokoschka. Equally interesting are the drawings by international artists, including Lovis Corinth, Ferdinand Hodler and Otto Dix, or the brilliant design drawings from the Wiener Werkstätte.

Contemporary touch: monumental intervention by Hannes Mlenek

The exhibition has been invested with a memorable contemporary touch by the artist Hannes Mlenek’s room intervention created especially for the presentation. An oversized sculpture in the shape of the artist’s drawing hand appears to be applying his monumental chalk drawings "Body Fragments" directly onto the walls of the museum’s atrium. The exhibition rooms also feature Mlenek’s wall drawings, which can be understood as commentaries on the presented works. These drawings can only be experienced at the LEOPOLD MUSEUM, for they represent fleeting art that will be painted over when the exhibition finishes.

Opening guests: Chris Lohner, Peter Sengl, Silvie Aigner, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein and many others

Elisabeth Leopold, the exhibition’s curators – Leopold Museum Director Franz Smola and Professor Fritz Koreny – as well as the artist Hannes Mlenek and his wife animatedly talked with the guests of the opening until late into the night. They included MAK Director Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, member of the Austrian parliament Gabriela Moser, bestselling author Chris Lohner, ORF cultural legend Wolfgang Lorenz, the artists Gunter Damisch, Gerhard Gutruf and Peter Sengl, Parnass editor Silvie Aigner, Leonore Boeckl, gallery owner Eberhard Kohlbacher, consultant Christian Vranek as well as Gauermann Museum curator and artist Bernhard Kratzig, who chatted to the Director of the Landesmuseum Niederösterreich and member of the Board of Directors of the Leopold Museum Private Foundation Carl Aigner, the Leopold Museum chairmen Diethard Leopold and Andreas Nödl, president of the Association of Friends of the Leopold Museum Hannes Raumauf, Leopold Museum Managing Director Peter Weinhäupl and the many other exhibition guests.

Valerie Leopold and Evgeny Sinayskiy play Janáčekand Prokofiev

The beautiful musical framework was provided by the enchanting Valerie Leopold (violin) and her congenial duet partner Evgeny Sinayskiy (piano). They performed pieces by LeošJanáčekand Sergei Prokofiev. The Leopold Museum’s cooperation partners also ensured that guests were kept in good spirits with sparkling wine by GOLDECK, SCHLOSS GOBELSBURG wines, Ottakringer beer and crusty JOSEPH bread.

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