A return to the origins? Modern and Medieval: an art tour of the Albertina exhibition

The conventional view of Modernist art suggests a radical break with the artistic traditions of the past. However, the exhibition at the Albertina offers a different perspective: it shows that many artists consciously turned to the art of the Middle Ages, drawing inspiration from it to create a new artistic language.

During this tour you will learn:

– Why Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh, Käthe Kolwitz, Max Beckmann and Otto Dix looked to the legacy of artists such as Hans Holbein, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Hans Baldung Green;

– How medieval aesthetics influenced the expression of existential themes – suffering, loneliness, faith and inner struggle;

– What visual and symbolic motifs crossed over from the past into the painting of the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

You will see unique juxtapositions between masterpieces of the 15th and 16th centuries and works by modernists, and you will be able to trace visual parallels and unexpected overlaps of forms and themes. This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see how art from different eras enters into dialogue, giving birth to new meanings and expanding our understanding of both the Middle Ages and Modernism.