This year the city of Vienna will commemorate four of its favorite artists—Gustav Klimt, Otto Wagner, Koloman Moser and Egon Schiele—who each passed away in 1918. Beauty and the Abyss, the name of the year-long celebration of the four artists, will include a number of exhibits and programs showcasing the impact these Modernism masters had during a transformative period in Austrian history. Here is a look at some of the special exhibits coming up as 2018 progresses:
“Egon Schiele. Expression and Lyricism”
Leopold Museum, Feb. 3–Nov. 4
A group of Schiele’s paintings and graphic artworks will be presented for the first time in a dialog with various handwritten pieces, poems and photographs.
“Klimt is Not the End. Awakening in Central Europe”
Lower Belvedere, March 22–Aug. 26
Around 80 works by Klimt, Schiele, Wagner and Moser will be displayed to mark the artists’ deaths, which signaled the end of an era in Viennese culture.
“Post Otto Wagner: From the Austrian Post Savings Bank to the Post-Modern”
MAK, May 30–Sept. 30
The exhibition looks at Wagner’s interactions with other protagonists of early Modernism, as well as the influence he had on other architects and designers.
“Koloman Moser Uncovered”
The Wiener Werkstätte Archives, Dec. 19–April 22, 2019
This exhibition highlights Moser’s extensive output during his days as a painter, graphic artist, craftsman and teacher.
For more information on these exhibits, as well as other programs that are part of Beauty and the Abyss, visit wien.info.
Top photo: Gustav Klimt’s “Death and Life” at Vienna’s Leopold Museum
Photo by CC Flickr/Nick: bit.ly/A16Uje