cultural
Works by greats such as Hermann Nitsch, Maria Lassnig and Alfons Walde are on offer at Vienna’s art fair Art Austria Highlights, which will take place in a heated arched hall on the grounds of the Vienna Ice Skating Club until Sunday.
29 local gallery owners and art dealers present works from the Vienna era around 1900, classical modern art, art following 1945 and contemporary art. Included are a Schüttbild by Nitsch with an estimated value of 3 million euros, a watercolor by Hundertwasser for around 750,000 euros and an oil painting by Alfons Walde, which is estimated at around 650,000 euros.
Scene of a legendary art show
According to the broadcast, the location of the fair is a very special one, since Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann organized the legendary art show there in 1908 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph’s throne.
„Art Austria“ am Eis
A separate hall in the middle of the grounds of the ice skating club in Vienna serves as an exhibition space for Hundertwasser and Nitsch pictures. But young gallery owners also exhibit at Art Austria. The Leipzig School is shown, for example.
“We show art that has arrived on the market, that achieves fixed prices, that retains its value and ideally can be sold at the same price as it was bought,” says organizer Wolfgang Pelz. At the same time, some of the mid-career artists who have received too little attention up until now are given the opportunity to present themselves. Among them are Mike Büchel, Martina Marajana Hoffmann and Richard Jurtitsch this year.
