Vienna and Budapest on the edge of the centuries.
1873 - 1920
Works from collections in Austria, Hungary and Russia

On 11 November 2005 an exhibition with more than 500 works of art opens in the State Hermitage. It is devoted to a very bright period in the common history of two peoples - Hungarians and Austrians - the period which began with the formation of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1867.

The exhibition has been organized jointly by the State Hermitage in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) and the Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest) with the participation of the Wien Museum, the Oesterreichisches Theatermuseum, the Oesterreichische Galerie Belvedere (Vienna), the Budapest History Museum, and the Museum of Applied Art in Budapest. Assistance has been provided by the Embassy of the Austrian Republic in the Russian Federation, the Embassy of the Hungarian Republic in the Russian Federation, the General Consulate of the Hungarian Republic in St Petersburg, and the Honorary General Consul of the Austrian Republic in St Petersburg.

The exhibition opens with works of art from the age of Historicism: paintings, objects of decorative and applied art, architectural plans and, fresco-sketches. Industrial design which arose at the end of the 19th century is represented by Art Nouveau (Secession) works made of glass and metal, pieces of furniture and the world-renowned ceramics of the Zsolnay factory. Trends in European painting at the turn of the century were reflected in work by the Austrian and Hungarian masters of Plain Air landscapes, and artists of the Secession School. Applied art from this period is represented by posters and also by ceramics, costumes, woven carpets from the best known Hungarian workshops, and creations by Hungarians in the weaving ateliers in the Godolo Artist Colony which leaned towards folk motifs. The last section of the exhibition is devoted to the world of theater, music and literature.

The juxtaposition of Hungarian and Austrian works of art underlines their similarities and differences. Two styles are presented in the exhibition - Art Nouveau and Historicism. They existed in both countries and competed with one another. Together with Munich and Paris, Vienna was one of the main centers of art at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century. The works of Austrian masters and their Hungarian students indicate that artists from Budapest not only studied under their Vienna colleagues but became their competitors. In this way Budapest magnified and contributed to the role Vienna enjoyed as a cultural center.

The exhibition largely repeats similar exhibitions which were held with great success in Vienna and Budapest during 2003 and 2004.

The sponsors of the exhibition are: the Ministry of National Heritage of the Hungarian Republic, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of the Austrian Republic, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Austrian Republic.

The chief curator of the exhibition is Dr. Katalin Foldi-Dozsa, honorary director of the Budapest History Museum.

The exhibition’s curators are: M.A. Anikin, senior researcher of the Department of Western European Art, State Hermitage; A. Pistorius, curator of the Oesterreichisches Theatermuseum; Edit Plesznivy, curator of the Hungarian National Gallery; and P Pohanka, curator of the Wien Museum.

An exhibition catalogue has been issued by the Slavia Publishing House, St Petersburg. The authors of the articles are well known art historians from Austria, Hungary and Russia.

More

At the press-conference at the Hermitage Theater

Professor Wilfried Zeipel. General Director of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum

Professor Istvan Fodor, Director of the Hungarian National Museum

Formal opening of the exhibition

First visitros

The exhibition catalogue