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10 am to 6 pm




March 28, 2025, to April 12, 2026

Never Final! 
The Museum in Change

Never Final! The Museum in Change

April 26, 1979, marked a touchstone for what today is mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, namely the expansion of the collections of the former 20er Haus by extensive and art-historically significant permanent loans from the Aachen-based collector couple Peter and Irene Ludwig. It was a substantive addition that also brought with it an expansion of the museum’s exhibition spaces. 20er Haus was joined by the Museum moderner Kunst, which opened at Palais Liechtenstein. With this expansion, the intense networking efforts of Künstlerhaus president Hans Mayr since the mid-1970s and the strategic diplomacy of Hermann Fillitz (professor of art history at the University of Vienna) bore cultural-political fruit. The close to 200 loans were not only a boon to the extant holdings but introduced new thematic focal points to the collection. Works of Pop Art and Photorealism entered the building, which were yet again boosted by the acquisition of the Wolfgang Hahn collection and its focus on Nouveau Réalisme. 

1981 saw another giant leap with the establishment of the Austrian Ludwig Foundation by then-Minister of Science Hertha Firnberg and the Ludwigs. A major portion of what constituted the loans at the time became the property of the foundation and could thus be anchored in the collection as permanent loans. In return, the Republic of Austria committed to making an annual index-linked payment to the foundation, enabling it to acquire important works of art in the future, the value of which far exceeded the internal acquisition budget. 

This exhibition is dedicated to the genesis of the Museum moderner Kunst and the way the institution changed at the time of Dieter Ronte at its helm (from 1979 to 1989). Against the backdrop of the multilayered pluralism of the 1980s, it attempts to provide an interpretive overview of the historical and cultural-political parameters of the time, while considering the programmatic decisions in the exhibitions, events, and collection expansions of that decade. It was during this period that the museum laid the groundwork for collaborations with collectors (Gertraud and Dieter Bogner), was actively involved sociopolitical matters (artistic freedom), and engaged in fundamental research for projects that manifested in the years to come (Hermann Nitsch, Rudolf Schwarzkogler).

Curated by Marie-Therese Hochwartner 

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01 Lassnig
01 Lassnig

Maria Lassnig
Learning to Fly, 1976 
177 x 127 cm
Tempera on canvas
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, acquired in 1980
© Maria Lassnig Stiftung / Bildrecht, Wien 2024

 

Maria Lassnig
Learning to Fly, 1976 
177 x 127 cm
Tempera on canvas
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, acquired in 1980
© Maria Lassnig Stiftung / Bildrecht, Wien 2024

 

02 Jungwirth
02 Jungwirth

Martha Jungwirth
Untitled, 1970 
70 x 100 cm
Watercolor on cardboard
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, acquired in 1982
© Bildrecht, Wien 2024

 

Martha Jungwirth
Untitled, 1970 
70 x 100 cm
Watercolor on cardboard
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, acquired in 1982
© Bildrecht, Wien 2024

 

03 Schwarzkogler
03 Schwarzkogler

Rudolf Schwarzkogler
Print of B/W Negative from the Action 5c, 1965/2006
49 x 49 cm
b/w photograph
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, On loan from the Austrian Ludwig Foundation, since 1984
© Österreichische Ludwigstiftung

 

Rudolf Schwarzkogler
Print of B/W Negative from the Action 5c, 1965/2006
49 x 49 cm
b/w photograph
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, On loan from the Austrian Ludwig Foundation, since 1984
© Österreichische Ludwigstiftung

 

04 Ingerl
04 Ingerl

Kurt Ingerl
Structure I/Structure II, 1978 
200 x 200 cm
Lacquer on wood
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, On loan from the Austrian Ludwig Foundation, since 1981
© Bildrecht, Wien 2024

 

Kurt Ingerl
Structure I/Structure II, 1978 
200 x 200 cm
Lacquer on wood
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, On loan from the Austrian Ludwig Foundation, since 1981
© Bildrecht, Wien 2024

 

Katharina Murschetz
T:+43-1-525 00-1400
F:+43 1 52500-1300
katharina.murschetz@mumok.at


Katharina Kober
T:+43-1-525 00-1309
F:+43 1 52500-1300
katharina.kober@mumok.at

Published on December 2, 2024