Galleries or museums?
Vienna is undoubtedly both one of Europe’s most beautiful cities and one of its most important cultural centres. The city’s rich heritage can be admired in its numerous art galleries and museums, which number over 100. Many of these are within walking distance of Vienna’s Innere Stadt centre.
Art history at the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Located in the very centre of Vienna, the Art History Museum houses one of the world’s most important collections of art under its iconic dome. Here, you can find works by Michelangelo, Rubens, and Rembrandt alongside Greek and Roman artifacts and extensive Egyptian and Oriental collections. It boasts very well-preserved mummies with golden masks and the stone sarcophagi of pharaohs, which date back to around 500-100 BC. Painted wooden coffins, most likely from the 1000-200 BC period, are equally fascinating. However, the greatest attention is drawn by Bruegel’s largest collection, including the famous “Tower of Babel” and “Children’s Games”, as well as the works of great chisel-and-brush masters such as Bernardo Bellotto, Antoon van Dyck and Rafael Santi.
Book attraction tickets before you go!
The museum building itself is every bit as impressive as the collection within. Adorned in a typical 19th-century Austro-Hungarian design, its ceilings are covered with decorative frescoes by Gustav Klimt and Hans Makart, which perfectly complement the granite and marble interior. One-time admission to the museum costs €18 per person and you can also buy additional tickets for temporary exhibitions.
Baroque grandeur at the Austrian Belvedere Gallery
Another very important spot for visiting art lovers is the Austrian Belvedere Gallery. The Upper and Lower Belvedere palaces that house the museum were built in the 18th century and are considered gems of Austrian architecture – the Upper Belvedere is considered to be one of the country’s most impressive baroque buildings. Home to a rich collection of works by Austrian artists – especially of the art nouveau and fin de siècle styles – the gallery also holds the world’s largest collection of Gustav Klimt’s paintings, including “The Kiss”, arguably his most famous work. The gallery also includes works by Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and Helena Funke with other highlights including pieces by Claude Monet, Elena Luksch-Makowsky, and Vincent van Gogh. A ticket to the Belvedere Palace costs less than €16 if purchased online, or €18 at the ticket office.
Masterpieces at the Albertina Gallery
The Albertina was founded in 1768 and houses a collection of around 50,000 drawings and over 1.5 million prints. The museum is located in the former palace of Princess Maria Krystyna Habsburg and her husband, Prince Albert Sasko-Cieszyński who was a keen art aficionado and collector, leading to the naming of the gallery in his honor. A visit to Albertina consists of two parts. The first is a self-guided tour of the rooms once inhabited by members of the Habsburg family. Some rooms still contain the original carved and gold-plated furniture and there are 22 rooms for visitors to explore on the building’s ground floor. On the same floor, you can admire eight temporary exhibitions, which include masterpieces by artists such as Dürer (“Field Hare”), Rubens, and Klimt, displayed on temporary rotation due to their sensitivity to light.
The Albertina floor is devoted to permanent exhibitions and spans 16 rooms. Visitors can admire the most important works of art from across the last 130 years – from Impressionism, through Expressionism and Avant-garde styles to the present day. Albertina’s collection includes Monet’s “Pond with Water Lilies”, Renoir’s “Portrait of a Girl” and works by Picasso. There are also paintings by Cezanne, Matisse and Miró. A ticket to the Albertina costs €16.
Creative celebration at the Calle Libre street art festival
There’s more to Vienna’s art scene than galleries and museums – just take a walk through the city’s streets in search of the most interesting murals. The popularity of street art here is mainly due to the annual Calle Libre Festival, which has invited artists to adorn city buildings since 2014. Every year, artworks are created across Vienna’s sixth (Mariahilf) and seventh (Neubau) districts. In 2022, the festival moved to Brigittenau, the 20th district, which for the first time will boast a designated festival zone near Nordwestbahnhof station.
During the festival, both Austrian and international street artists create large-scale paintings and sculptures around the city, promoting conversations around artistic activity and destigmatising street art.
Mariahilf or Neubau?
Mariahilf and Neubau are neighbouring districts where the buildings’ facades are adorned with street art. These areas provide the ideal backdrop to a stroll and are where the most colourful, fun, inspiring, and occasionally provocative images are created. In the centre of Mariahilf, at Hofmühlgasse 12, you can see the work of a famous Colombian street artist named Stinkfish. The mural shows a father carrying his son on his shoulders, painted in Stinkfish’s characteristic colour palette of yellow and black. The area around Mariahilfer Straße is also worth visiting; the best murals are hidden in the streets that criss-cross this main shopping street. On the parallel Gumpendorfer Straße, you will find colorful murals on virtually every corner. There are also interesting works all around the Neubaugasse underground station.
Danube Canal or Street Art Passage?
Another of Vienna’s street art hotspots is the Danube Canal, which is lined with concrete walls which have been used by local artists as canvases for their works. Of course, as with any city, some of the graffiti here is of little artistic value, however, there are also excellent works by both amateur and professional artists. The most interesting murals can be found along the section between Schwedenplatz and Schottenring.
Street Art Passage leads to the Museumsquartier Museum District and is decorated with both temporary exhibitions and permanent murals. Street Art Passage offers an opportunity to admire alternative art, juxtaposed with the subdued and elegant galleries just around the corner. The works of the French artist Invader are a permanent part of this arcade, with his “Space Invader” – a dazzling optical illusion made of black and blue squares – being one of the most popular pieces. The passage can be accessed through Breite Gasse or through the museum complex.
