Basel Readies for Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland is preparing to host a large-scale thematic exhibition on Viennese Secessionist art (1897-1918), featuring some of Gustav Klimt’s most important works, and may include his Frauenbildnis (Portrait of Ria Munk III), which recently sold at a Christie’s auction for £18,801,250 (approximately $30.3 million USD).

The presentation—called VIENNA 1900: Klimt, Schiele and their Times—will also include the works of Klimt’s young protégé, Egon Schiele, as well as the early works and architectural photos and designs of Josef Hoffmann, Otto Wagner, Koloman Moser, and Joseph Maria Olbrich.

The principle lender to the exhibition is the Leopold Museum in Vienna, which means those who visit Vienna from mid-September through the end of January 2011, will not see the museum’s Gustav Klimt collection in its entirety. (The largest Gustav Klimt collection, however, remains at the Belvedere, also located in Vienna, and includes the famous painting The Kiss.)

Visitors of Fondation Beyeler will also see a selection of Secessionist furniture, ceramics, silver, and textiles from the Wiener Werkstätte shops.Other important lenders include the Albertina and the Belvdere, Vienna, the Neue Galerie and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Stiftung Sammlung Kamm at the Kunsthaus Zug. — Jessica Tudzin