First international art exhibition Vienna 1882

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Official poster for the exhibition

The First International Art Exhibition in the Künstlerhaus was held from April 1 to September 30, 1882 as a special exhibition in addition to the permanent art exhibition in the Vienna Künstlerhaus . It was the first major Austrian art show for which international artists came to Vienna with their works .

prehistory

There was already an art show in Vienna in 1869, which was more of a German character, and another in 1873 as part of the Vienna World Exhibition . However, these were hardly noticed by the public. While other major European cities with their chic “salons” had already been offering permanently installed art shows for years, Vienna lagged far behind in terms of cultural policy. It is thanks to the tenacious will and influence of two gentlemen, Count Edmund Zichy and Prince Richard Metternich , that an art show of this magnitude could take place in Vienna in 1882, and this was a milestone for the promotion of Austrian visual arts. A guarantee fund was set up and Zichy and Metternich mobilized art lovers who advanced the money. The “Künstlerhaus-Genossenschaft” (today: “Society of Fine Artists Austria”), founded in 1861, and the oldest association of Viennese painters, sculptors and architects, participated intensively in the preparations and had the Künstlerhaus structurally expanded by two side wings to accommodate the planned dimensions of the exhibition. The state and the city of Vienna also supported the idea of ​​an international art exhibition through propaganda, which created a positive basic climate.

Exhibition profile

At the International Art Exhibition Vienna 1882 , Wilhelm Gause , 1882
Entry of the Dampierre riders into the Vienna Hofburg , Siegmund L'Allemand

There was a rich participation of foreign artists who agreed with the organizers in their efforts. The repertoire of this show essentially showed oil paintings, engravings, watercolors and sculptures, mainly from contemporary realism art, but space was also given to old masterpieces of the Romantic era. It was also common for historical art exhibitions to be able to purchase exhibited works of art.

The Austrian department showed Heinrich von Angelis “Princess Montenuovo”, Hans Makart's “Zichy” and “Portrait of Bianca Freiin von Teschenberg”, Hans Canon , Siegmund L'Allemands “Entry of the Dampierre'schen Reiter into the Vienna Hofburg” and Alois Schönns “ Italian Grape Harvest ”.

The most important paintings of the French masterpieces were Francois Flameng's “The Girondins' Last Supper” and G. Bertrand's “Patrie”, Paul Baudry's “Glorification des Lois”, William Adolphe Bougereau's colorful composition “Aphrodite”, Edouard Dantan's “The Breakfast of the Model”, also works by Alphée Dubois, Léon Bonnat's “Job” and Jean Beraud.

The most notable German artists exhibited were Ludwig Knaus , In the Church by Wilhelm Leibl , “Departure of Emperor Wilhelm von Berlin” by Adolph Menzel , “Arrival on the dance floor” by Franz Defregger , “The dance break” by Roberto Prádez y Gautier , “Trapped Poacher ”by Hugo Kauffmann . The biggest upset was probably “Seni on the corpse of Wallenstein” by Piloty. Also worth mentioning is the “Maid of Orleans at the stake” by Gabriel Mar.

The Spaniards shocked with “Joan the Mad, accompanying Philip the Fair's coffin” by Franzisco Pradilla and with the bloodthirsty painting “King Nameiro of Navarre, who shows his foreign nobles how he is used to punishing disobedience” by Gines Casado. Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Holland and Denmark were also represented.

Result

Munkácsy's "Christ before Pilate", created in 1881

Even during the preparatory work, this company was considered daring. Even if Austrian art had such a high status abroad, from an Austrian perspective, French and German art in particular were classified as overwhelming competition. Just a few days after the opening it was clear that this show could not face any international comparison, but that the purpose of the exhibition was to be achieved. The selected exhibits by Austrian artists were rated very differently in the historical media, but Vienna was the focus of European art interest during the exhibition and the exhibition attracted around 248,000 visitors from home and abroad. The Austrian art patron Charles Sedelmeyer, who campaigned for the interests of Austrian artists abroad, is remarkable. Over 45 days, he presented Mihály Munkácsy's colossal painting “Christ before Pilate”, which he himself commissioned and aroused the interest of a proud 50,000 visitors.

Overall, this undertaking was rated as a successful test of courage, as it helped the promotion of Austrian painting out of a slumber and at the same time was the beginning of a success story in the Austrian art exhibition sector.

literature

  • Hermann Bahr : Vienna Art Letters. I. Salzburger Volksblatt, 12 (1882) # 104, 1-3. (May 6, 1882)
  • Hermann Bahr: Vienna Art Letters. II. Salzburger Volksblatt, 12 (1882) # 115, 1. (May 20, 1882)
  • Hermann Bahr: Vienna Art Letters. III. Salzburger Volksblatt, 12 (1882) # 119, 1-2. (May 25, 1882)
  • Hermann Bahr: Vienna Art Letters. IV. Salzburger Volksblatt, 12 (1882) # 126, 2-3. (June 3, 1882)
  • Hermann Bahr: Vienna Art Letters. V. France. Salzburger Volksblatt, 12 (1882) # 136, 3rd (June 16, 1882)

Web links

Wikisource: The International Art Exhibition in Vienna  - Sources and full texts