250 YEARS
THE ALBERTINA MUSEUM
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Open to Future
In 2026, the ALBERTINA Museum is celebrating 250 years of existence. This significant anniversary offers an opportunity to look back upon the eventful history of the collection and the institution itself as well as to look towards the future with optimism and enthusiasm – attitudes that have always been part of the ALBERTINA Museum’s self-conception. Much has already been written about the museum – but nowhere near everything has been said. What stories have yet to be told? What still awaits discovery? And how will the ALBERTINA Museum develop in the future?
Open to New Perspectivs
It is these questions that guide us through this anniversary year’s programming. Three main exhibitions with innovative approaches present the world-famous collection of the ALBERTINA from a new perspective, will usher rarely shown and entirely unknown objects into the spotlight alongside renewed scrutiny of known
artistic quantities. A “path of discovery” through the extensive collections of the ALBERTINA encourages visitors to the exhibition Fascination Paper to experience this tradition-steeped medium anew and interact with art from unaccustomed perspectives.
Reappraising the history of the ALBERTINA Museum also entails centering a female personality whose pivotal role in the collection’s founding is frequently overshadowed by that of her husband, Duke Albert of Sachse-Teschen: Archduchess Marie Christine. As the favorite daughter of Empress Maria Theresia, she endowed her marriage with the wealth that made possible such wide-ranging art acquisitions. She had also been active since her youth as an artist in her own right, by virtue of which she wielded important influence over the couple’s collecting pursuits. The Anniversary Exhibition Collecting for the Future devotes itself to this collecting history with a selection that will include precious works ranging from Dürer’s Hare to the expressive drawings of Egon Schiele.
A new view of the collection will also present the Women Artists of the ALBERTINA in a major autumn exhibition that unites so far insufficiently noted works by women artists in an epoch-spanning dialog. While it nearly goes without saying in contemporary art to pay attention to women artists when making new acquisitions, this question remains open to this day when it comes to the historical collection. Where are the women artists? What works might still lie hidden in one of the world’s largest collections? Who collected them? Here, an ongoing research project that will continue in the years to come has already produced some remarkable findings. The present anniversary year hence includes a glimpse into the state of this research and the fascinating diversity of art created by women.
Open to Innovation
With its gaze directed both back and ahead, the ALBERTINA Museum also seeks to have its anniversary-year programming show
how its self-conception is oriented toward not only yesterday and today but also toward tomorrow. Even for Albert and Marie Christine, continual enrichment of the collection with the contemporary art of their era had already been a central concern. This tradition has been upheld by the ALBERTINA Museum ever since,
as evidenced by its presentation of the most recent donations at its location in Klosterneuburg.
Open to All
The ALBERTINA Museum’s anniversary programming approaches change not as a break with tradition but as lively dialog between past and present. The museum conceives of itself as a place of continuous development – open to contemporary discourses, to innovation, to new ways of thinking, to the art of tomorrow, and
to the future. Alongside its exhibitions, the institution also runs a diverse range of educational offerings and event programming for all age groups that will include special highlights this year such as the Open Door events on the weekend of 4 July, the anniversary of the ALBERTINA’s founding.
Highlights 2026
Next year, a wide range of exhibitions will be presented at the three ALBERTINA locations: After several decades, the French master of political caricature, Honoré Daumier, whose work has influenced many generations of artists to this day, will be on display again for the first time in the spring. The major fall exhibition is dedicated to the two most important figurative painters of the 20th century: Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon.
With KAWS. Art & Comix, the ALBERTINA MODERN invites visitors to engage in a dialogue of contemporary art at the intersection of comics and art. The ALBERTINA is dedicating a major retrospective to Richard Prince, focusing on his photographic works from the 1970s to the present. With exhibitions on the work of Helga Philipp and Shara Hughes, the ALBERTINA is once again focusing on the presentation of nationally and internationally renowned female artists in its anniversary year. With a comprehensive retrospective on Franz West and a tribute to Arnulf Rainer, the ALBERTINA is dedicating solo exhibitions to two great masters from Austria.
The theme for the year at the ALBERTINA KLOSTERNEUBURG is Donated with Love. The exhibition is a presentation of the latest donations to the collection, from Sean Scully to Julie Mehretu, reflecting the broad spectrum of the contemporary collection.
Exhibitions in the Anniversary Year
Comprising over a million objects, it is one of the most important graphic art collections in the world and was founded 250 years ago: the ALBERTINA collection. What was once a private collection has become a world-class museum.
Discover our wide-ranging exhibition program in the anniversary year, accompanied by a varied program of educational activities and events:
ALBERTINA
- FASCINATION PAPER. Rembrandt to Kiefer
- LEIKO IKEMURA. Motherscape
- HONORÉ DAUMIER. Mirror of Society
- CARE MATTERS. An Exhibition of the VERBUND COLLECTION
- RICHARD PRINCE. Retrospective
- HELGA PHILIPP. Spaces of Motion
- COLLECTING FOR THE FUTURE. 250 Years of the ALBERTINA Museum
- TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
- BACON – PICASSO. What It Means to Be Human
- SHARA HUGHES
- KÜNSTLERINNEN DER ALBERTINA
ALBERTINA MODERN
- DANCE IMAGES
- KAWS. ART & COMIX
- VASARELY – ADRIAN. Moving Images
- FRANZ WEST
- DOWN UNDER. Art from Australia
ALBERTINA KLOSTERNEUBURG
Anniversary program
New tour formats
Take a look!
German | English
Take a look is a short, entertaining slide show on selected works from the respective exhibition, offering a concise insight into the ideas and highlights. The 20-minute presentation is available in German and English and can be attended at any time without registration.
In Focus
German
The educational format In Focus offers a concentrated examination of a selected topic. In 30 minutes, a single aspect is explored in depth. Depending on the date, the focus is on an artist, a style, a theme, or a specific work.
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Discover our entire program:
Annual Partner
Annual Partner
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