Musée à vendre pour cause de faillite

Annick and Anton Herbert Collection is one of the most significant private collections of contemporary art in Europe. The Belgian couple began to purchase art in the wake of the political and social upheavals of the 1968 movement. They were fascinated by those developments that promoted new concepts of art and the artwork—parallel to contemporary endeavors for social renewal. The Herberts bought important works by American and European representatives of Minimal Art and Conceptual Art, including Carl Andre, Art & Language, Marcel Broodthaers, Hanne Darboven, Dan Graham, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Nauman, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gerhard Richter, Niele Toroni, and Lawrence Weiner. As from the mid-1980s, with works by Martin Kippenberger, Franz West, and Mike Kelley, key figures from a next generation were added to the collection. The last artist to join so far was Heimo Zobernig.

In 2008, the Herberts created a foundation for most of their holdings, and in 2013 began showing them to the public during the summer months in a former industrial building in Ghent. This exhibition in Vienna, provocatively titled Musée à vendre pour cause de faillite (Museum for Sale due to Bankruptcy), will be the last comprehensive showing outside of these Foundation premises. Augmented by major works from the mumok collection, which Annick and Anton Herbert have carefully selected, this will be the most comprehensive presentation of the Herbert’s collection to date.