Description of the attraction
The Leopold Museum, located in the Museum Quarter of Vienna, is home to one of the largest collections of contemporary Austrian art, featuring artists such as Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka. The museum contains the world's largest collection of works by Egon Schiele.
The museum was founded on the basis of a private collection, which was collected by Rudolph and Elisabeth Leopold. Rudolf Leopold, a professional physician, began collecting art in 1950. He was interested in the works of artists who appeared at that time, but already managed to win fame in the art market.
The Austrian government purchased 5,000 works from Rudolf Leopold in 1994 for 2.2 billion shillings (160 million euros) to create the Leopold Museum. The foundation pursued exclusively charitable goals. Leopold himself was appointed director of the museum for life.
The construction of the museum began in 1999 opposite the National Art Gallery in the center of the capital. The museum was built according to the project of architects from the Ortner & Ortner bureau. The building is made in a rectangular shape and has an area of 12,600 square meters. A wide staircase (10 meters wide) leads to the museum. Inside the building, all floors are made of oak parquet. The inauguration of the museum took place on September 21, 2001, and was attended by President Thomas Klistirom himself.
The Leopold Museum has the world's largest collection of works by Egon Schiele, a young expressionist who died at the age of 28. Also presented are the works of another pioneer of modern painting - Gustav Klimt. In the museum you can see the works of other famous masters: Oskar Kokoschka, Karl Schuch, Leopold Hauer, Alfred Kubin, Kolo Moser, Anton Romako, Joseph Hoffmann, Albert Paris Gutersloh and others.
Paintings, graphics and original Art Nouveau furniture make up the permanent exhibition of the museum.
