By Dean Gregory, to Museum Spotlight Europe (2019)
Recent renovations and acquisitions by three museums in the Central European cities of Vienna and Budapest serve to accentuate their already impressive cultural heritage. In Vienna, the Ephesos Museum in Vienna has found a refurbished home at the Neue Burg wing of the Hofburg Complex. The Albertina Museum in the Austrian capital as well boasts the opening of the newly acquired Essl collection, while in Budapest the Fine Arts Museum has reopened after a three-year renovation project. Whether you previously have visited the museums or are first-time guests, these new enhancements will provide you with a renewed appreciation for the splendor of European culture and history.
Vienna and Budapest: A Shared History
Before exploring the highlights of the new renovations and artistic additions, a brief explication of the intertwined histories of Vienna and Budapest. Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, a dual monarchy was established galvanizing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Subsequently, the two cities experienced significant growth and rejuvenation. Budapest, especially, transformed during the time period, whereby enhanced construction standards and more exhaustive urban planning occurred with English, French, German and Austrian influences. During the time period, Vienna simultaneously flourished intellectually and artistically with the esteemed painters Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka; the work in psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud; and the music of Gustav Mahler. Upon the culmination of the 19th century, during the height of the Belle Epoque, Vienna and Budapest had become joint cultural crowns of Continental Europe.
Ephesos Museum
In the fall of 2018, the Ephesos Museum in Vienna found a new home at the Neue Burg wing of the Hofburg complex. The collection features antiquities from ancient Greece and Rome from the ancient city of Ephesos, which is located in modern-day Selçuk, Turkey. Special attention is paid to the pieces found by esteemed Austrian archaeologists from the late 19th century such as Otto Benndorf. Highlights of the collection include the bronze Athelete statue, the Amazone from the Altar of the Artemision, the Parthian Monument and the Child with a Goose.
The
building itself was constructed over several decades at the turn of the 19th
century as an addition to the imperial palace during the final days of the
Hapsburg Empire. Inhabited by Ionian and Greek colonists, during the Classical
period, the historic city of Ephesos thrived as an
economic powerhouse, serving as one of the twelve city-states of the Ionian
League. The Temple of Artemis constructed approximately in 550 B.C. was one of
the Seven Wonders of Ancient Mediterranean Civilization. The city became part
of the Roman Empire beginning in 129 B.C. Located in central Vienna, the museum
itself is easily accessibly by taxi and public transportation from a medley of hotels.
Visitors should note that to visit the Ephesos Collection, they must purchase a
ticket to the House of Austrian History, as the two spaces share the same
section of the Neue Burg.
Fine Arts Museum
Traveling along the Danube River east to Budapest, the Fine Arts Museum in the Hungarian capital reopened in the fall of 2018 as well after a three-year renovation. As part of a plan to turn the Városliget or City Park section of the city into a museum quarter, the institution received a roof replacement, an upgraded heating system as well as new public and exhibition spaces. Further, the splendid Romanesque Hall, which had been essentially abandoned since World War II, when it experienced significant damage, has been restored to its past magnificence.
Treasures in the museum span the breadth of art history from Ancient Egypt and Classical Antiquity through European Old Masters, including works by El Greco, Tintoretto, Giorgione, Titian and Raphael, among others. El Greco’s Penitent Magdalene and Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man are of particular interest. The museum currently features an exhibition of Renoir’s Reclining Nude through August 20, 2019. Past exhibitions have been dedicated to Michelangelo, Leonardo, Van Dyk and Rembrandt. Enthusiasts of art created after 1800, should visit the collection housed temporarily in the National Gallery in Buda Castle until it is moved to the City Park location at the National Museum Restoration and Storage Centre, a new space developed in line with the Liget Budapest Project. By 2022, the works will be on display permanently at the newly constructed National Gallery. Highlights of the collection include pieces by Gaugin, Cézanne, Monet and Pisarro. Currently, a special exhibition dedicated to surrealism, entitledThe Surrealist Movement from Dalí to Magritte – Crisis and Rebirth in 1929 takes place until October 20, 2019. Easily accessible by public transportation or taxi, the Fine Arts Museum and the National Gallery in Budapest are centrally positioned in the city in close proximity to a selection of hotels.
The Albertina Museum
Back in Vienna, the esteemed Albertina Museum will present to the public this year the recent acquisition of the Essl Collection. The donation of 1,323 artworks, with a market value of approximately $103 million USD, features works by Alex Katz, Cindy Sherman and Georg Baselitz, among others. Cultivated over years by the home improvement entrepreneur and collector, Karlheinz Essl and his spouse Agnes, the couple began purchasing postwar Austrian art in the 1950s. In addition to the Essl Collection, the Albertina features a permanent exhibition entitled Monet to Picasso – The Batliner Collection. The display features works from Gaugin, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, and Toulouse-Lautrec.
Other highlights of the museum collection include Marc Chagall’s Sleeping Woman with Flowers, Giacometti’s Slender Bust on Plinth, and Alex Katz’s Black Hat. Further, the Albertina includes spaces dedicated to contemporary virtuoso Anselm Kiefer and architectural masterpieces. Located near the Ephesos museum and other prominent cultural institutions in central Vienna, the Albertina Museum is readily accessible through public transportation and taxi within close proximity of a bevy of hotels. Moreover, expedient transportation between Vienna and Budapest exists, namely the RailJet train service with regular departures arriving in just over two hours from city to city, making either metropolis an ideal day-trip or long weekend destination.
