translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
210610: Museum Liaunig Tradition and Avant-garde – Art in Austria 1945 – 1980
Museum Liaunig
Tradition and Avant-garde – Art in Austria 1945 – 1980
01.05.10 – 31.10.10
Conventional, but well combined
What can one expect from an exhibition with the title “Tradition and Avant-garde – Art in Austria 1945 – 1980”? At first one would assume: nothing new, lots of – excuse me – provincial art. But the exhibition, curated by Peter Baum at the Museum Liaunig in Neuhaus /Suha, has more to offer.
Although the 350 works were grouped rather conventionally, one rarely sees them so concentrated and in such abundance. And there are many ingenious combinations: early works by Maria Lassnig with an atypical painting by Jürgen Messensee or a sculpture by Josef Pillhofer juxtaposed with a painting by the unknown Gottfried Mairwöger.
On the one hand the exhibition offers many traditional works, such as drawings by Kurt Absolon or Rudolf Hradil, but on the other hand many lesser known works or those waiting to be rediscovered, such as the remarkable object by Erwin Thorn or some early works by famous artists – among them Kurt Kocherscheidt’s oil sketch “Makart in his studio” or Arnulf Rainer’s geometric-abstract colour studies, or one of Günther Brus’ paintings. Works by Helga Philipp, Hermann Painitz and the artist couple H + H Joos impressively prove that geometric abstraction is not underrepresented in Austria – contrary to the widespread opinion.
But Liaunig is obviously a conventional collector: there are practically no examples of photography, and the sculptures are all rather traditional – but there are exceptions, one of them is Cornelius Kolig. But it seems almost alibi-like that examples of Viennese Actionism is to be found at this presentation – with such frequently shown photo series by Schwarzkogler or Brus' Actionism.
By Nina Schedlmayer
Museum Liaunig
9155 Neuhaus/Suha, Neuhaus 41
Tel: +43 (0)4356 211 15
Email: officey@museumliaunig.at
http://www.museumliaunig.at
Opening hours: Wed – Sat, by arrangement
210610
Museum Liaunig
9155 Neuhaus/Suha, Neuhaus 41
Tel: +43 (0)4356 211 15
Email: office@museumliaunig.at
http://www.museumliaunig.at/
Öffnungszeiten: Mi-So 10-18 h
Museum Liaunig
9155 Neuhaus/Suha, Neuhaus 41
Tel: +43 (0)4356 211 15
Email: office@museumliaunig.at
http://www.museumliaunig.at/
Öffnungszeiten: Mi-So 10-18 h