Monet to Baselitz
MASTERWORKS OF MODERN ART
THE BATLINER COLLECTION
In spring 2007, one of Europes greatest private collections of classical modern art came to the Albertina as a permanent loan from the Rita und Herbert Batliner Foundation in Liechtenstein.
The Albertina is now in a unique position to compensate for the major gaps in the Austrian state-run museums holdings
of international modern art with key works of French Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, German Expressionism, Fauvism and
the Russian avant-garde.
The Batliner Collection has received acclaim from museums and connoisseurs for decades. It includes outstanding works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Amedeo Modigliani, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon. These masterpieces can be seen in a new permanent exhibition at the Albertina.
The Batliner Collection is augmented by works from the Forberg Collection in Switzerland, which was also transferred to the Albertina on permanent loan.
The Collectors Herbert and Rita Batliner
Herbert and Rita Batliner began collecting art nearly half a century ago. Due to their close friendship with the legendary art dealer Ernst Beyeler, French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting formed a cornerstone of the collection from the very beginning, along with the work of
Picasso became an additional focal point. Today he is represented in the collection with over 40 works, including ten paintings and numerous drawings and one-of-a-kind ceramics.
The Collectors Legacy
Several years ago the Batliners decided to respect the integrity of the collection by transferring the entire collection to a museum as a bequest. Convinced that extraordinary art collections are no less distinctive, and as such worth preserving, than great works of art, the Batliners decided to make their collection accessible to the general public in their lifetime. The couple derived enormous pleasure and intellectual stimulation from the daily contact they had with their paintings, pastels, gouaches and sculptures, and now they wanted to share this experience with others.
The Batliner Collection and the Albertina
To safeguard the unity of their distinguished collection in perpetuity, the Batliners set up the Herbert and Rita Batliner
Art Foundation, which transferred the artworks to the Albertina as a permanent loan.
Together with works from the Swiss collection of Eva and Mathias Forberg, which is also on permanent loan to the Albertina,
around 100 works from the Batliner Collection are on display at the Albertina in a permanent new exhibition that traces the development from Impressionism to modern art.
Since May 2009, the Albertina has been presenting a permanent exhibition from its own holdings. This has become possible through
the transfer of the Batliner Collection to the Albertina in 2007. Outstanding works by Paul Klee from the Carl Djerassi Collection and major works from the collection of Eva and Mathias Forberg complete the new presentation, which is additionally rounded off by exhibits from other collections handed over to the Albertina.
The permanent exhibition spans the most fascinating chapters from more than 130 years of art history, from Impressionism
to the most recent present. Paintings by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Miró, Klee, Kandinsky, Chagall, and other masters
offer a survey of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, the Fauves, Expressionism, and the Russian avant-garde. With
late works by Picasso and exhibits by Rothko and Bacon, the exhibition leads over to the second half of the twentieth century,
before it ends with works by contemporary artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter.
Picture Gallery
STUDY HALL
| Monday through Thursday | T +43 (0)1 53 483-470 |
| 10 am to 4 pm | F +43 (0)1 53 483-320 |
| Further informations |
LIBRARY
| Monday through Thursday | T +43 (0)1 53 483-460, -470 |
| 10 am to 4 pm | F +43 (0)1 53 483-320 |
| Further informations | E bibliothek@albertina.at |




















