The exhibiton The Purloined Masterpiece. Images as Time Machines allows the Academy’s historical art collections – the Paintings Gallery, the Graphic Collection and the Plaster Cast Collection – to enter into conversation with contemporary art. After the return to Schillerplatz, there is now again the opportunity to view the Academy’s art treasures in the freshly renovated, historic building.

The exhibition in the rooms of the Paintings Gallery takes a digressive tour through art history from the 15th century to the present day, as reflected in these three rich collections. In addition to Hieronymus Bosch’s Last Judgment Triptych, other historical masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli, Daniel Chodowiecki, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Anthony van Dyck, Barent Fabritius, Hans Baldung Grien, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Martin van Meytens, Adriaen van Ostade, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob van Ruisdael, Rachel Ruysch, Pierre Subleyras, David Teniers the Younger, Anna Dorothea Therbusch, Franz Zächerle, among others, meet contemporary art by Martin Beck, An-na-Sophie Berger / Teak Ramos, Marcel Broodthaers, Lili Dujourie, VALIE EXPORT, Rodney Graham, Ulrike Grossarth, Albert Paris Gütersloh, Marcello Maloberti, Willem Oorebeek, Jeroen de Rijke / Willem de Rooij, Klaus Scherübel, Allan Sekula, Paul Sietsema, Laurence Sturla.

The Art Collections
The Art Collections of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna comprise the Paintings Gallery, the Graphic Col-lection and the Plaster Cast Collection. They house approximately 1,200 paintings and 160,000 works on paper from the 14th to the 21st century, as well as about 450 plaster casts. The presence of such high-quality and extensive historical collections at an art academy is a special feature. The collections are meeting spaces for research, teaching and art enthusiasts and are open to the public in the form of a study hall and museum.