Sackstrasse 16
Tel. 0316- 829 155
Open: Tue- Sun
The Neue Galerie Graz is part of the
Universalmuseum Joanneum and shows predominantly contemporary art.
The gallery was created in 1941 by the division of the Joanneum in
1811 in an Old and New Gallery, the latter took over the holdings of
the 19th and 20th centuries in the Palais Herberstein on Sackstraße
16 as a new museum department. The Stadtpalais was rebuilt by the
famous baroque architect Josef Hueber before the middle of the 18th
century and adapted for the princes of Eggenberg and in the
succession to the Counts of Herberstein. When its existence was
endangered, it was saved by Hans Riehl (1941-1955), the first
director of the Neue Galerie, who achieved the dedication of the
house as a museum. The following leaders wereWalter Koschatzky
(1956-1962), Trude Aldrian (1963-1965), Wilfried Skreiner
(1966-1992), Werner Fenz (1993-1997), Peter Weibel (1998) and
Christa Steinle (1998-2011). Weibel was responsible as Chief Curator
for numerous large exhibitions until 2011.
Due to the
restructuring measures of the Universalmuseum Joanneum, which were
carried out for budgetary reasons, the Neue Galerie Graz was merged
with the Kunsthaus Graz in 2011 to form the department "Modern and
Contemporary Art", which is headed by Peter Peer. Also in 2011, the
relocation of the Neue Galerie took place in its new location, the
Joanneumsviertel.
The gallery was created in 1941 by dividing the Joanneum's
Landesbildergalerie, founded in 1811, into an old and a new gallery,
with the latter taking over the holdings from the 19th and 20th
centuries in the Palais Herberstein at Sackstraße 16 as a new museum
department. The city palace was rebuilt by the baroque architect Josef
Hueber before the mid-18th century and adapted for the princes of
Eggenberg and subsequently for the Counts of Herberstein. When its
existence was endangered, it was saved by Hans Riehl (1941-1955), the
first director of the Neue Galerie, by having the building dedicated as
a museum. The subsequent directors were Walter Koschatzky (1956-1962),
Trude Aldrian (1963-1965), Wilfried Skreiner (1966-1992), Werner Fenz
(1993-1997), Peter Weibel (1998) and Christa Steinle (1998-2011). Until
2011, Weibel was chief curator for numerous large exhibitions.
Due to the restructuring of the Universalmuseum Joanneum for budgetary
reasons, the Neue Galerie Graz was combined with the Kunsthaus Graz in
2011 to form the "Modern and Contemporary Art" department, which is
headed by Peter Peer. Also in 2011, the Neue Galerie moved to its new
location, the Joanneumsviertel.
The gallery sees it as its cultural mission to inform the public
about the status of current art production at regional, national and
international level through exhibitions and symposia. Large programmatic
collective exhibitions create a meeting forum for local and foreign
artists and illuminate socially and politically current topics in
well-founded reappraisals:
"Context Art", 1993
"Pittura Immedia."
Paintings from the 90s from the USA and Europe, 1995
"Beyond Art",
1996/1997/1998
"The Anagrammatic Body", 1999
"In the field of
letters - The future of literature", 2001
"In Search of Balkania",
2002
"Phantom of Lust/The Sacher-Masoch-Festival and M-ARS-Art and
War", 2003
"RAF - On the Idea of Terror", 2005
"Slum", 2006/2007
In personal exhibitions, the gallery defines the broad field of
investigation of art in all media of expression such as painting,
sculpture, photography, digital media, video and film art, object art,
installations or architecture. For example, many years before other
museums, the Neue Galerie welcomed young artists who today are among the
established stars of the art scene, such as Large solo exhibitions are
dedicated to artists such as Félix González-Torres, Rudolf Stingel,
Pipilotti Rist, Sylvie Fleury, William Kentridge and Olafur Eliasson.
Since 2002, Styrian artists of the middle generation, whose work already
enjoys an international reputation, have found a forum in retrospective
personal exhibitions, including names such as Herbert Brandl, Erwin
Wurm, Rudi Molacek, Günter Brus, Hans Kupelwieser, Fritz Panzer, Erwin
Bohatsch, Hubert Schmalix.
Young Austrian artists who are not yet
established in the art world are given the opportunity to present their
work in the exhibition series in the studio of the Neue Galerie. Mostly
Austrian artists from the first half of the 20th century are exhibited
in the court gallery. shown that are related to the Neue Galerie
collection, e.g. B. Ida Maly, Franz Krausz, Lily Greenham. With the
art-historical processing of their works, reference can be made to
interesting positions that would otherwise have been forgotten. The Neue
Galerie's "Artist in Residence" program offers three international
artists per year the opportunity to live and work in Graz for a period
of time and then to present the resulting products to the public.
The Neue Galerie endeavors to accompany and underpin its exhibitions
with additional theoretical events.
The collection with works from the beginning of the 19th century to
the present is a prime example of the convergence of public and private
collections at a high level. Without the financial and intellectual
commitment of private collectors, the public collection would not have
its international reputation. The core of the 19th-century collection is
a gift from Archduke Johann, donations from the imperial family and
local nobility. After the First World War, collecting activity came to a
standstill due to the economic situation, which is why the art from
around 1900 and that from the interwar period is not documented in a
representative way. An important painting by Egon Schiele (Stadtende)
and graphics (Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka) are the exception here .
With the introduction of the Joanneum Art Prize in 1959, the
International Painter Weeks in Styria (1966 to 1992) and the Trigon
Biennials (1963–1995), the Neue Galerie’s collecting activities have
expanded significantly and become more international since the 1970s and
1980s. In addition to a continuous expansion of the holdings from the
19th and 20th centuries, the focus of the current collection activity is
Austrian and international contemporary art, with a special focus on the
art of the 1970s (Fluxus, happenings, conceptual art) from the Eastern
European art space.
In order to keep the interest of the public alive and as a reaction
to the limited space available, the collection is presented in changing
long-term exhibitions with different themes:
Félix González-Torres,
Rudolf Stingel, 1994
"Under the open sky", 2000
"From Waldmüller
to Schiele", Schloss Eggenberg, 2002/2003
“Nature in the picture”,
Stainz Castle, 2003
"Support - The New Gallery as a Collection", 2003
“The World of Quiet Things”, Herberstein Castle, 2004
"Ars Pingendi",
2005
“Fluxus Happening Concept Art”, 2005/2006
"On the nature of
man. Genre Pictures from the Old and the New Gallery”, 2006/2007
"William Thöny. In the wake of modernity”, 2013
“Nature is inside.
The Painter Wolfgang Hollegha“, 2015/2016 (curated by Günther
Holler-Schuster)
"Maria Lassnig (1919-2014). The donation to the Neue
Galerie Graz”, 2016