Prinz Eugen, as he is known in Austria, was a renowned lover and collector of art and left a vast collection of paintings, copper engravings, books and hand writings. He became one of the most influential Austrians of his time when he moved to the country after being rejected by Louis XIV for service in the French army.

As a commander he was a daredevil, willing to sacrifice human lives by the thousands and considered a military genius by his contemporaries, but at the same time a generous patron willing to spend his enormous wealth on his collections, as if his military strategy had a counterpart in his thinking.

Two of the exhibition’s sub-headings, “general” and “art-lover” being self-evident, “philosopher” remains to be proven. Certainly the prince kept correspondence with great intellectuals of his time and his passion for the sciences were a foreboding of the age of enlightenment.

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His interest lay mainly with the profane sciences. Eugene’s collector passion was different from his baroque contemporaries. He did not collect for the sake of representation or to collect rarities but out of a quest for knowledge and genuine passion for the sciences.

The philosopher Leibniz, who had entertained the idea of opening an academy of sciences in Vienna, a project which the prince was supportive of, but which eventually was abandoned, had personally dedicated a manuscript of his work outlining his philosophy of monadology, “Principes de la nature et de la grace fondés en raison” which the prince is known to have held in great esteem.

The prince had managed to put together a collection of 15000 printed works, 237 precious manuscripts, 290 volumes with etchings, and 250 cassettes with portraits in the years between 1712 and 1736. Of particular interest were books on natural history and geography. While his library “Bibliotheca Eugeniana”, prints and drawings were purchased by the Emperor Karl VI in 1737, from his heiress Princess Victoria of Savoy-Carignan -who had never met him and at once decided to sell everything- most of the artwork was bought by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia.

On of the most spectacular features being the 15 original paintings on loan for this exhibition and back to Vienna for the first time since the prince’s death, there will also be busts, suits of armour, sabers and other arms, tents, drapery and more items illustrating his era.

An interesting aspect is the cultural exchange with the Habsburgs enemies of the times, the Ottomans, as seen in little items of the show and elaborated in the catalogue, like fashion fads “alla turcha” in Europe or baroque-inspired architecture in the Ottoman Empire.

The exhibition remains strictly in this age though, and there is no reference to contemporary views on politics, arts and history of reception of the era.

This podcast was realised with the kind support of UNIQUA ArtCercles. The exhibiton can be seen till the 6th of June 2010 at the Orangerie and Lower Belvedere.

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Esra Ersen is interested in the formation of identity and its transformation in different contexts or power structures. Her work “Carousel” shown in the exhibition tanzimat (Augarten Contemporary 21.1.2010 - 16.5.2010) was produced with high school students from Cologne. Ersen asked the students to model Turkish heads out of clay.

Since the beginning of 2008, Open Space, the Center for Art Projects, has been in full swing in the Vienna art world with its ambitious program. Open Space’s repertoire of exploring artistic variety and multilayeredness corresponds to its self-conception as an open space for international networking. Under the direction of Gulsen Bal, Open Space has realised a marathon of exhibitions with a density of international participation that is unusual for Vienna.

Last year the art space opened in Lassingleithnerplatz in Taborstreet with an exhibition curated by the Vienna-based artist, Fatih Aydogdu. Aydogdu, who artistically feels at home somewhere between the categories of installation, video, graphic art, and music, and who also had boundary experiences in his life as a geopolitically sensitized migrant, made the boundary signal the conceptual starting point of his interdiscplinary exhibition.

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Ten artists and artist collectives followed the request of the theme of the boundary signal. CastYourArt visited the exhibition at Open Space recording sounds as fields of experimentation and boundary signals beyond the act of speaking and music, as well as artistic positionings emerging from historically political moments in relation to current events. (wh/jn)

“And if there ever was an age when one sees varied and wondrous things I believe that ours is one” (Mateo Bandello, 1554)

Miniatures made of ivory, rhino and narwhale horn. Ostrich eggs, symbols of power and resistance as the ancient mythology says the giant birds live on stones and iron. Seychelles nuts washed ashore on the Maldives. Bezoars, rocks found in the stomach of ruminant animals that are rumoured to dispel melancholy, composed in the finest art of metalworking. Arty watches, wondrous automatic machines, quadrants, astrolabes and other scientific instruments. The most bizarre monstrosities, Madonna figures and Dionysian satyrs standing in a row with mystic animals thrown out of the deepest oceans. Basins, goblets, bowls, cans, mugs, made of gold, polished with precious and semi-precious stones. An unbelievable mishmash, collected at numerous expeditions and trips to the most isolated and distant places on earth, passed on, inherited, bought and finally exhibited at the Ambrase court of prince Ferdinand II and at the specially for this occasion equipped premises of Kaiser Rudolf II, at the Hradschin in castle of Prague. The cabinet of curiosities and wonders of the renaissance rulers opens up a whole new world to the curious.

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The displayed objects fascinate the viewer, cause amazement and inquisitiveness, and leave the impression of a long gone era. „In uno omnia.“ The view of the world of Athansius Kircher, scholar and founder of the first museum the Kircherianum at the Collegium Romanum, signalizes modern times not only by the immense amount of knowledge but also by power. The amazement should not only cause cognition and knowledge it should rather cause awe of the power of those who were able to pool it. The world as a micro cosmos within the chamber of curiosities represents the prince as the ruler of the world, explains Sabine Haag, an expert of the chamber of curiosities and managing director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

The chamber of curiosities in the renaissance, an early model of museums conflicts with the emerging modern time assertiveness because the basis of the presented knowledge was to stabilise power. The general orientation of the chamber of curiosities, a concentration of knowledge and amazement was seen as a handing down of traditional perceptions. Too much wonder and amazement can be negative, as it inhibits and perverts the use of mind, says René Descartes. The holistic perception had to give way to the analysis and the concept of differentiation. A major part, of the chamber of curiosities collection disappears; the rest is split and distributed to emerging special museums.

The two chambers of curiosities and wonders of prince Ferdinand II and Rudolf II, are brought together by the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. In spring 2002 the collection was closed to the public and should reopen after a major restoration in spring 2012. The adjustment of the premises allows donators to become involved with the chamber of curiosities. For example, our partner UNIQUA sponsors the restoration of the Saliera saloon, named after the famous saltshaker of the Italian sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. CastYourArt, thanks to our partner UNIQUA, had the chance to take a look behind the closed doors of the chamber of curiosities and to hold an interview with Sabine Haag. (wh/ek)

This podcast was realised with the kind support of UNIQUA ArtCercles. The exhibiton “Karl der Kühne” can be seen till the 10th of January 2010 at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

Violins are often only spoken about when they are stolen. However, before they can be stolen, they have to be built, and this is the aspect on which we focus in this podcast.

The “New Viennese Violins“ Association came about based on an idea from Christoph Schachner, to bring professional and amateur musicians closer to high-quality, newly manufactured instruments. These offer a better alternative to the mystified, often overestimated old instruments. “As a result of violins being treated like antiques, a myth has developed around them which is often incomprehensible. Hence, a new violin often costs only a quarter or fifth of what an old violin of similar quality costs“, says Nupi Jenner, a member of the association.

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The production of violins is a complex experience, a craft which involves an intuitive process. The knowledge required for the selection of the wood that is suitable for building stringed instruments developed over many generations. The cover is frequently made from spruce and the remaining parts from maple. It can be very difficult to find the right kind of spruce to build the instruments, even in a dense forest. For larger instruments, like the cello or double bass, willow and poplar trees are also used. The selection from a wood dealer who specializes in instrument-making is left up to the discretion of each instrument-maker.

In order to develop instruments of equal high quality, it is necessary to keep the parameters as consistent as possible. Nevertheless, in the end, each instrument has its own character. Achieving consistency in the production can be almost impossible, even when scientific procedures and computerized measuring techniques are utilized. Thus, the virtuosity of the violin craft always remains a bit mysterious.

Since objective assessments of a certain quality level are difficult to establish, the purchase depends very much on the personal approach of the musician, his/her sensitivity to tone, physical requirements, financial options, and the kind of advise and maintenance he/she expects from the violin-maker.

Once a year, those who would like to produce, play, and/or listen to the “New Viennese Violins“ gather at the Radio Kulturhaus in Vienna. In the context of instrument presentation, the partly newly-built stringed instruments of renowned musicians are played. There, one can directly encounter violin-makers, musicians, and experts involved with the new stringed instruments and become convinced of their sound quality in person.
(jk/jn).

Centuries do not have clear boundaries, rather, they flow into each other in the same way that the years which they are made up of do. The transition period in which the nineteenth and twentieth century collapsed into each other was called the fin de siècle. The fact that something was coming to an end was a modern perspective.

In 1918, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Otto Wagner, and Koloman Moser all died within a year. Accompanying them was the fall of turn-of-the-century, successfully up-and-coming, modern Austrian art. So what remained in terms of artistic progress? For one thing, there was Oskar Kokoschka. He had moved to Dresden and fled—as did a majority of the intellectual and artistic heavyweights—upon the rise of the National Socialists: first to Prague, and then to London. And then there was Herbert Boeckl, who stayed behind. This starting point was not exactly ideal for the development of the painter: an authoritarian, conservative, anti-modern mood prevailed in Austria, along with a shortage of moral support from colleagues.

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Towards the end of the turn of the century, Herbert Boeckl’s works were close to those of Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele: expressionistic. Over the course of time, however, his painting took many turns. University professor and grandchild Matthias Boeckl counts five direction changes: first, there were the traditional atmospheric paintings of his early Carinthian years, then his move to secessionism with his line paintings, then expressionism, then his pastose phase of expressionistic realism, and finally, his abstract colorfield painting, starting from the end of the Second World War. Boeckl himself always rejected a categorization according to creative periods, rather, he saw his work in relation to motifs. Boeckl sharpened his view of nature and humanity, of the essence of existence, of the necessary form, in his portraits and landscapes. Both, according to Agnes Husslein-Arco, director of the Belvedere and granddaughter of the artist, proved to be persistent motifs throughout his stylistically diverse work.

The intrinsic, the enduring, the fundamentally valid: this is what Herbert Boeckl wanted to maintain as a painter. This objective did not, however, make him conservative, rather it made him an advocate of modernity. He experimented to figure out which new possibilities on offer would preserve that which was essential. However, his focus on the everlasting probably corresponded to his religious nature. At the beginning of his career, Boeckl had already completed a fresco in the Church of Maria Saal, which locals considered provocative and which therefore remained covered for years. At the very end of his life, he created one of his most important works, “The Apocalypse”, in the Angels’ Chapel at the Seckau Monastery.

Boeckl was committed to the ideals and style directions that modernity brought out, and he shaped the development of the Austrian art scene as a director and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, as well as as a prominent member of the Austrian Art Senate. He supported the appointment of Fritz Wotrubas and Albert Paris Gütersloh as professors at the Academy and counted among his students some of the most important artists of the postwar generation—including Maria Lassnig and Alfred Hrdlicka.

On the occasion of the retrospective of Boeckl’s works at the Lower Belvedere in Vienna, CastYourArt spoke with both curators of the exhibition, Agnes Husslein-Arco and Matthias Boeckl, in Herbert Boeckl’s studio, which has remained virtually untouched since his death in 1966. Accompanying the exhibition is a 500-page catalog which includes a list of Boeckl’s works. (wh/jn)

The exhibition is in view at the Lower Belvedere in Vienna until January 31, 2010.

Warhol, Newman, Wool “Barney is now at another party.“ When exhibitions show artistic developments in a larger context, it is a good thing for every visitor. Such an exhibition can be seen at the moment at Kunsthaus Graz. Under the curatorial direction of Peter Pakesch, the exhibition “Warhol, Wool, Newman” bridges the gap between abstract American expressionism, minimal and pop art, and some of the art of our time.

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Abstract American expressionism brought a new image and understanding of space into the world of art. The viewer played a central role here, because the work was no longer possible without his/her presence. In Barnett Newman’s work, this becomes noticeably clear. It positions the viewer as the counterpart and participant in the space of the image and confronts him/her with a physical reality.

Andy Warhol built upon Newman’s understanding of space, according to the director of the Kunsthaus Graz, Peter Pakesch. Pop art – when Warhol is considered to be its most important representative – is, to that extent, not a reaction to American abstract expressionism, but rather, the logical extension of a continuous development. Peter Pakesch has been following this theory for a long time. After a ten-year preparation period, he can now publicly confirm this theory on the basis of original works.

Like Newman, Warhol also plays with the perception of space and time. Through his silkscreen images, which often use newspaper images as source material, he demonstrates that it is pointless to look for references that correspond to reality. There is no independent reality behind these pictures.

He tries to dispel the meaning out of the pictures and thereby produce a counterbalance to mass-media reporting, “Because the more you look at the same exact thing, the more the meaning goes away, and the better and emptier you feel.“

By contrast, in his films, Warhol tries to set the illusion machinery of Hollywood against disillusionism by bringing the films back into the physical. He slows them down, plays with time, and thereby creates a new space of perception for the viewer. Christopher Wool also works in this context. For him, original painting no longer exists. The prototypes are stamped, the writings are painted along with the template. The motif is endlessly repeated. It is exactly through this repetition of the same that identity develops, and this connects Wool with Warhol.

In the word paintings of the New York-based painter and photographer Wool, condensed slogans and shortened messages from the present media world are featured. There often exists a gap thereby between the signs and the original “SENSEISNOLONGERTOBEMADE”. The randomly placed empty spaces obscure meaning and put perceived reality into question. It produces a disturbance and represents an alternative world to the determined everyday life of the media. (jk/jn)

This podcast was made possible with the generous support of UNIQA ArtCercles. The pictures of Warhol, Wool and Newman are on display at the Kunsthaus Graz until January 10th, 2010.

In the last few years, the boundaries between interior decoration, art, and design have begun to blur. Within this trend, each discipline contributes its own unique qualities. This direction has resulted in a combination of presenting individual artistic vision and adjusting to the demands of the market. One can describe this phenomenon as a kind of product-building exchange between the senders and the recipients - for which, in our case, the model rooms serve as the means of communication.

The history of Viennese model rooms goes back several centuries. The beginnings of example-setting ideal spaces were already emerging in the second half of the seventeenth century. The first attempts focused on the careful selection of materials, then furnishings were added gradually, such as furniture and lighting. Industrial development, economic progress, and improved quality of living cleared the way for individual expression. At this point, not only could wardrobe demonstrate social status and taste, living spaces also emerged as a means of expression and distinction. The demand for creative guidance towards this purpose rose and was promptly met. In the nineteenth century, furniture and exhibition catalogs were already providing advice on the development of style. It was in this period that the term “model room” came into being.

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The path towards the model room was paved with the interactions of various disciplines. The work of the architect became art work, an artist would take on the role of a designer, whereby his/her work became a matter of everyday culture. With the exhibition, “Viennese Model Rooms”, the Belvedere takes on the concept of ‘applied art based on contemporary ideas’ – founded by Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and the Wiener Werkstätte – and, under the curatorial direction of MuMoK director Edelbert Köb, looks into the transferability of this artistic approach into the present.

Gilbert Bretterbauer, Peter Kogler, Florian Pumhösl, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Lisa Ruyter, and Esther Stocker, as well as the companies Backhausen, Wittmann, and Zumtobel, have taken on this task. Six individual contemporary model rooms were developed by the artists, negotiating artistic vision and market demand. They are on display at the Orangerie, Lower Belvedere until January 24th, 2010.

Austria’s newest international art fair offering, the “art albertina“, is specifically dedicated to a medium which has, until now, often played a subordinate role in the art market—drawing. From September 23rd to the 27th, several prestigious art dealers and galleries will be presenting master drawings from every period in the Propter-Homines-Halle of the Albertina Museum.

Klaus Albrecht Schröder, director of the Albertina Museum, hopes to be able to establish a second major fair for the art of drawing with “art albertina“, alongside the renowned springtime fair, the Salon du Dessin in Paris, and is aiming for a new positioning at the same time. Classic modern and national contemporary art works predominate, followed by representative nineteenth-century pieces.

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With its specialization in drawing, the “art albertina“ hopes to contribute to a higher appreciation of a generally underappreciated art form. According to Schröder, Friedrich Hegel’s systematic classification of the arts in the early nineteenth century contributed in part to this underestimation. Hegel’s blurring of the differentiation between drawing and sketching fostered a conception of drawing as being a merely preparatory medium. The fact that the term of drawing has changed considerably in recent times has been little acknowledged. Thus, many important contemporary artists focus on or work exclusively in this medium. Keeping this background in mind, it makes sense, as the “art albertina“ demonstrates, to present the various styles of drawing within a framework, thereby bringing attention to an art form which justifiably lays claim to a self-sufficient status. The connection between the fair and its location, the Albertina Museum, which houses the most important graphic collection in the world—at present it encompasses approximately 50,000 drawings and watercolors, as well as about 900,000 printed works from the late gothic period to the present—will, according to Schröder, surely prove fruitful.

“art albertina” has invited only those exhibitors who are intensively involved with the medium of drawing.

This podcast was made possible with the generous support of UNIQA ArtCercles (sh/jn)

In the early twentieth century, in the course of the modern art’s search for the “very early origins” of art, so-called “outsider art” was discovered. At the same time, psychiatrists who hoped to be able to use works of psychiatric patients for diagnostic purposes began actively collecting for the first time on a large scale. Along these lines, the art historian and physician Hans Prinzhorn (1886-1933), received a commission from the Heidelberger hospital in 1919 to extend the small educational collection of the institute and to find methods that would help to gain insides into the type of the patients’ illness using their creative works. However, Prinzhorn rejected taking a purely clinical psychiatric approach to the works. Instead, he set the works into an art-theoretical context and thereby brought the aesthetic beauty of the until-then marginalized “mad art” into focus for the first time—a pioneering achievement.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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In 1922, Prinzhorn published the book, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, in which he documented and interpreted a large part of the collection, drawing parallels to other forms of artistic patterns and contemporary art. While his colleagues mostly rejected the book, it was enthusiastically received by the modern art world. It inspired artists such as Max Ernst, Alfred Kubin, and Pablo Picasso, and had a substantial influence on twentieth-century art theory and reception, which is reflected in—not least of all—today’s occupation with “state-bound art” and “outsider art“.

Today, the Prinzhorn Collection includes 5000 works from 435 mostly schizophrenic-diagnosed patients of various social backgrounds and age ranges. It brings together drawings, paintings, collages, textiles, sculptures, and texts, which emerged between 1880 and 1933 in the psychiatric institutes of mainly German-speaking countries.

A selection of the Prinzhorn Collection is presently on display in the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Benediktinerstift Admont. (sh/jn)