Essl Collection Transferred to the ALBERTINA

With over 6,000 works, the Essl Collection numbers among the world's largest private collections of its kind. Groups of works by figures including Karel Appel and Arnulf Rainer, Franz West and Georg Baselitz, Maria Lassnig and Alex Katz, Erwin Wurm and Anselm Kiefer, VALIE EXPORT and Cindy Sherman, and photographs by artists ranging from Andreas Gursky to Candida Höfer, characterise this collection's unique richness and special profile.

In 2014, the Essl Collection was in danger of being caught up in the financial turbulences surrounding the group of companies owned by the Essl family. But that same year, the collection - in no small part thanks to the efforts of Dr. Hans Peter Haselsteiner - was placed under the ownership of a new company, thus ensuring its survival. Now, its permanent loan (until 2044) to the ALBERTINA, places the Essl Collection beneath the umbrella of the Austrian Federal Museums.

"With this forward-looking cooperative arrangement, the Essl Collection has been saved for Austria. These highly important works of contemporary art by artists from Austria and abroad complement the collections of the Federal Museums in a unique way, making this a win both for art and for the Republic of Austria," commented Minister of Culture Thomas Drozda.

"In theALBERTINA, we have found an ideal partner for the future of the collection," said a cheerful Karlheinz Essl.

Klaus Albrecht Schröder: "Today is a shining moment in theALBERTINA's over 200-year history. To my mind, this transfer of the Essl Collection to the  ALBERTINA opens up an entirely new chapter in the history of this tradition-steeped museum and of contemporary art in Austria."

Voices from the art world on the transfer of theEssl Collection to theALBERTINA 

Georg Baselitz:

"I've maintained close ties with the Essl Collection for many years, as I also have with the ALBERTINA. For me, the fact that these two great collections will now be brought together beneath the roof of the ALBERTINA is a piece of good fortune indeed, and I think that also goes for all the other artists represented in the Essl Collection. I've always believed in Vienna, and I was sure that the best possible solution would be found for the Essl Collection."

Eva Schlegel:

"I'm ecstatic! For artists like myself, the decision to preserve the largest world-class collection of post-war Austrian art for the public is a cultural policy act of great foresightedness. Preserving this important art archive by integrating it into one of the most important institutions guarantees its permanence, its exemplary status, and its visibility. My warmest congratulations to all those decision-makers who were involved." 

Erwin Wurm:

"By assuming this collection, theALBERTINA has catapulted itself into the first rank of contemporary art museums. It was always clear to me that the art of our times could stand to involve several big players in our capital city of Vienna. And I think that theALBERTINA's assumption of the Essl Collection is a courageous show of commitment to contemporary art."

Press images are available free of charge under http://www.albertina.at/en/press/general_information/essl_collection

Further inquiry note:
Verena Dahlitz
Press Office ALBERTINA
T: +43-1-534-83-510
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.albertina.at