Jahresbericht 2011 - Presse - Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

khm, museum oF ethnology and austrIan theatre museum, 2011
over the past year, despite the omnipresent international
economic crisis and constrained budgets, more than 1.1
million people visited the collections and attended the
special exhibitions in our museums; the varied programme
that we presented to our public was positively received.
Besides the programme of exhibitions and related events,
a major highlight of the past year was undoubtedly the
opening of our new central depot on the outskirts of
Vienna by the Federal Minister for education, Arts and
culture, claudia Schmied. The construction and fittingout
phase was short and the removal of items from the
former depots occurred smoothly. For the coming decades
the Kunsthistorisches Museum and its two affiliated
museums have now created a perfectly equipped
museum depot with satisfactory climatic and security
technology.
2011 was again marked by very intensive construction
work for the collection of Sculpture and Decorative Arts,
which is to be re-opened after being closed for ten years.
Here we are pleased to report great success in the sphere
of fund-raising and the valuable financial support of our
Association of Friends of the Museum in Vienna as well
as the international Friends of the Kunsthistorisches
Museum. All management forces of the museum were
also involved in 2011 in evolving a major re-branding
process, and important findings were made in several
workshops as regards a new marketing strategy and the
new positioning of the museums.
By presenting a “Modern and contemporary Programme”
the Kunsthistorisches Museum aims in future to organise
discussions going beyond the museum’s own collections
in exciting analyses with contemporary artists. one first
major project in this context in 2011 was the presentation
of work by the Belgian artist Jan Fabre in the
Picture Gallery.
The opening of a new creative atelier, varied educational
projects and a diverse programme of events meant that
in 2011 the Kunsthistorisches Museum was again able to
meet its major core aim of educating and opening up
new circles of visitors. All members of the public under
19 years of age can enter the museum free of charge,
a measure which, in this target group, led to further
increases in the number of visitors. This showed that
here a very important cultural and political step had
been taken.
kunsthIstorIsches museum
notable activities
egyptIan and near eastern collectIon
general reVIsIon oF the InVentory
The egyptian and near eastern collection owns a total of
four inventories: the so-called main inventory (egyptian
inventory), the Semitic inventory, the special inventory
Sichem as well as the archaeological inventory (A-inventory).
As part of a general revision of the inventories,
work commenced on inspecting all inventories in the
egyptian and near eastern collection, but of prime
importance is the inspection of the main inventory and
the archaeological inventory. The successful cooperation
with the scientific association “egypt & Austria” continued
in 2011. in addition to a six-part series of lectures a study
day on the subject of Ancient Egypt in Travel Literature
was organised.
collectIon oF greek and roman antIQuItIes
concerning the research project Classical Portraits in
Vienna, the main focus was on restoration, the written
and visual documentation of the objects, and on fostering
contacts with the cooperation partner, the Museo del
Prado in Madrid. A further important aspect was the
orientation as part of the international research activity
on the central subject of the project, that is the history of
the classical portrait after it had been found and the
changes made to it until today.
Among the sculptures which had been found in the first
years of the Austrian excavations in ephesus (since 1895),
there were several fragments of a marble frieze with
erotic portrayals. The reliefs come from the scaenae frons,
the rear stage wall of the theatre in ephesus. Work will be
carried out on the frieze and documented in detail, taking
into consideration the fragments that arrived in the
British Museum during the 19th century.
collectIon oF sculpture and decoratIVe
arts (kunstkammer), secular and
ecclesIastIcal treasurIes
in 2011 work continued intensively on re-furbishing the
collection of Sculpture and Decorative Arts. in cooperation
with the H. G. Merz office of Architects (Stuttgart) plans
were made for the location of all the objects foreseen for
the new arrangement; the form of their presentation in
the display cases and their didactic relation to each other
were determined. Major aspects of the design of the
exhibition, such as materials, use of colours, seating
facilities, graphic design were elaborated, and samples
made. in 2011 the planning of the display cases was completed.
in addition an extensive concept was evolved for
lighting the rooms and display cases.
Studies continued intensively on the educational concept
elaborated together with the office bogner.cc.
As regards the restoration of objects, extensive conservational
and restorative measures were taken in accordance
with the existing plan.
pIcture gallery
in 2011 the opportunity was seized as part of a threeyear
plan for re-designing the appearance of the gallery.
one of the first aims was to remove the examples of old
German painting from the constricted small corner room
no. 17, originally intended as a provisional solution but
which remained for almost twenty years. Dürer, cranach,
Holbein and other old German masters are now to be
found in Hall XV and the adjoining small room, where
until now only Dutch paintings were on display. The Dutch
schools of painting no longer occupy a large hall – indeed
this does not correspond to their true character – but are on
display in the small rooms between the two larger corner
rooms which are devoted to rembrandt and Vermeer.
in Hall Xii on the other hand a collection of Dutch, Flemish
and German masters from the 16th and 17th centuries are
presented close together and extending right up to the
ceiling. By grouping the paintings together according to
themes and with corresponding formal and decorative
associations, the impression of “Baroque” abundance is
further intensified.
coIn cabInet
Together with the numismatic commission of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) the coin cabinet
has taken on the digitalisation and scientific classification
summary
of the 1,686 coins which were restored to the Kabul
Museum after its destruction in 2003. For this purpose a
special data bank was set up which essentially resembles
that of the Viennese coin cabinet. A final introduction as
to how the data bank functions was offered in the context
of the academic exchange in Vienna, in which six
curators from the Kabul Museum took part. in addition,
preliminary preparations were made for an exhibition
showing the monetary history of Afghanistan from the
6 th century B.c. to the present.
collectIon oF ancIent musIcal Instruments
in the collection of ancient musical instruments
christoph Bock, “piano tuner of both imperial and royal
court theatres”, is documented merely by means of the
spinet which is the youngest extant quilled instrument
built in Vienna, and which was probably used for coaching
purposes. in 2011 the spinet was carefully restored.
After the sounding board had been removed, it was
planed, cracks were closed up or cleaned, and loose ribs
were re-glued with a new pre-tension. The dogleg jacks
were fitted extremely precisely; as regards the new
intonation most of the old quills were re-usable. With a
pitch of a1 = 435 Hz and good tuning retention it became
possible to play this continuo instrument again, which
had been unplayable for decades because of climatic
damage.
collectIon oF arms and armour
in the context of the research project on the etched
decoration of German armour from the renaissance,
special attention is given to the œuvre of the graphic
artist from Augsburg Daniel Hopfer (1471–1536) as an
etcher of armour. This field requires particularly detailed
analysis as the great influence of Hopfer’s graphic art on
south-German art makes it difficult to establish whether
the artist carried out the work himself. in the context of
the project a great number of ornamented armours were
studied which are associated with Daniel Hopfer. The
findings from this analysis led to many works being
attributed to him or established as being clearly not by
him, and they were also helpful for dating Hopfer’s
graphic art.
museum oF carrIages and department oF
court unIForms
on 19 June 2011 over 8000 people flocked during the
open Day to the Museum of carriages. Besides summary
guided tours and special tours, a full and exciting
programme provided visitors with insights into the
fascinating world of research in the museum and the
opportunity to visit the restoration studios. carriage
rides in the palace gardens and displays by lady horseriders
sitting side-saddle allowed visitors to gain vivid
impressions of the world of the horse and carriage. in
front of the carriage Museum a festive marquee was set
up where Maya Hakvoort, star of the musical Elisabeth,
presented highlights; historian Brigitte Hamann spoke
about the life circumstances of the empress, and carolin
Maikler presented her book on elisabeth as a literary
myth; the replica of “Sisi’s” (as elisabeth was known)
wedding stole was also on display. As the crowning finale
of the day Meinhard rüdenauer presented the world
premiere of his “imperial carriage Music”. in addition to
the broad variety of activities for adults there was also an
extensive programme for children: pony rides and workshops
on how to make crowns and carriages.
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