Prof. Dr. Rudolf Leopold ––– A Life for Art A chronology of the life of the ophthalmologist, art collector, foundation donor, Leopold Museum museological director and Leopold Museum Foundation board member. (The exhibitions listed here represent only a selection of those mounted under the auspices or with the involvement of Prof. Rudolf Leopold, and just a few of Leopold’s most important purchases are mentioned.)

1925 Rudolf Leopold is born in Vienna to Rudolf Leopold Sr., an agronomist and section head at the Ministry of Agriculture, and his wife Juliane (née Kargl) on 1 March 1925 in Vienna.

1943 Leopold passes his school-leaving examination.

1945 Following the Second World War, Rudolf Leopold begins studying medicine in the autumn/winter semester of 1945/46.

1947 Leopold’s first visit to the auction house Dorotheum and to the Kunsthistorisches Museum: “My eyes literally overflowed,” he said, under the impression of works by Breughel, Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer and Velázquez)—“It“It was on this day that I decided to collect paintings.”paintings.” Leopold began by collecting drawings and paintings from the 19 th century. For example, around 1949 he purchased Friedrich Gauermann’s Return Home Before the Storm (1845).

1940s After having completed his first doctoral viva during his fourth semester, Rudolf Leopold also begins attending art history lectures by professors including Joseph Maria Swoboda and Fritz Novotny. He also gathers experience in the field of restoration, often restoring paintings himself. It is above all the works by Egon Schiele which fascinate Rudolf Leopold. Neither the disparaging judgment of most Austrian art historians, nor the lack of interest on the part of all foreign

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“experts” at the time (who view Schiele as a mere “local” talent), can discourage Leopold from following his passion. More than a few people find Schiele’s works to be pornographic or even “degenerate” (in the National Socialist sense of the word).

1950 Rudolf Leopold comes upon Otto Nirenstein’s (later Kallir’s) catalogue of Schiele’s works (paintings). This provided him with a decisive impulse: “Our century, as well, has artists who can compose and paint just as well as the best of the old masters, artists whose works speak to people living in the present day in terms of their content.” This marks Leopold’s decision to collect SchieleSchiele.

1952 Acquisition of Schiele’s landscape Krumau Town Crescentof Houses I (The small city V) (1915).

1953 Graduation as a doctor of medicine. Acquisition of EgonEgon Schiele’s Hermits and Moa (1910)(1910);; Rudolf Leopold marries Elisabeth.

1954 Acquisition of Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally (1911), Setting Sun (1913) and Levitation (1915). Birth of son Rudolf (today a cello professor; lives in Vienna and Graz).

1955 For an exhibition of modern Austrian art at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and in Eindhoven, Rudolf Leopold puts together a selection of works by Schiele which is unorthodox by 1950s standards, and this leads to the first major international success for the artist. The previously unknown Schiele is instantly catapulted into the first rank of European artists. With earlier efforts to promote Schiele in the USA having achieved hardly any success at all, the groundwork for his renown has now been laid in Europe. The Museum of Modern Art in New York makes its first purchase of watercolours by the artist. Acquisition of Schiele’s Houses by the Sea (1914).

1956

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Birth of son Diethard (who studied German language and literature as well as psychology; today, he works as a psychotherapist and kyudo instructor and lives in Vienna).

1957 Acquisition of Egon Schiele’s Cardinal and Nun.

1959 Leopold authors his first essay on Schiele; birth of daughter Gerda (freelance artist, lives in Berlin).

1962 Acquisition of Schiele’s Clothed Woman Reclining (191(1917).7).7).7). Rudolf Leopold continues to mount exhibitions in an effort to achieve for Schiele the recognition which he deserves:

1963 Museum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck.

1964 Autumn: the exhibition “Schiele : Paintings. Watercolours and Drawings” at Marlborough Fine Art in London. Most of the works by Schiele shown there go on in

1965 to be shown at New York’s Guggenheim Museum together with works by Gustav Klimt (exhibition: “Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele”).

1968 Three exhibitions to mark the 50 ththth anniversary of Egon Schiele’s death in Vienna (including “Egon Schiele, Life and Works”, Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, “Gustav Klimt. Egon Schiele. In Commemoration of their Deaths 50 Years Ago”, Graphic Collection of the Albertina ).

From 1968 to 1971, Rudolf Leopold works on his extensive Schiele monographmonograph.monograph

1972

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witnesses the publication of Rudolf Leopold’s Egon Schiele. Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings. This book includes a critical catalogue and the first precise motif references. This fundamental academic work has since seen use by numerous experts. Jane Kallir’s catalogue of Schiele’s works is also based on the book by Rudolf Leopold.

1975 The large-scale exhibition “Egon Schiele” takes place at Haus der Kunst in Munich.

1982 For his achievements in the visual arts field, Rudolf Leopold receives the honorary title of ProfessorProfessor.

From 1988 to 1991, the exhibition “Egon Schiele and his Time” is shown to great success in Zurich ( Kunsthaus ), Vienna ( Kunstforum ), Munich ( Kunsthalle der Hybobank-Kulturstiftung), Wuppertal ( Von der Heydt-Museum) and London ( Royal Academy of Arts ).

1994 Establishment of the private foundation “Leopold Museum-seum ---Privatstiftung”Privatstiftung”Privatstiftung”; over 5,200 artworks belonging to Rudolf Leopold enter the foundation’s possession. The foundation is now the owner of the world’s largest Egon Schiele collection, including more than 40 oil paintings. The construction of a museum is planned. From this point onward, Rudolf Leopold mounts exhibitions in the name of the Leopold MuseumMuseum----PrivatstiftungPrivatstiftungPrivatstiftung, which was founded by Rudolf Leopold and the Republic of Austria with the help of the Austrian National Bank—Leopold himself contributed most of the foundation’s works as a donation. The foundation’s goal is to make this comprehensive collection accessible to the public via the construction of a new museum. The main emphasis of the collection’s holdings is Austrian painting from the first half of the 20 th century, with major works by Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Richard Gerstl, Alfred Kubin, Albin Egger- Lienz, Kolo Moser, Oskar Kokoschka, Anton Faistauer, Anton Kolig, Herbert Boeckl and Wilhelm Thöny. The collection also includes several important works from the 19 th century and from the second half of the 20 th century, as well as non-European art objects from sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the Far East.

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1995/96 Rudolf Leopold selects and successfully exhibits 152 works by Schiele in the exhibition “Egon Schiele: The Leopold Collection. Vienna” at the Kunsthalle in Tübingen, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein- Westfalen in D Düsseldorfüsseldorf and the Hamburger Kunsthalle in HamburgHamburg. The same selection is shown in

1997/98 at the Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Picasso Museum in Barcelona; Schiele’s paintings Wally and Dead City III (1911) are seized (in 1999, this seizure was reversed and the paintings returned). Purchase of Gustav Klimt’s painting Attersee.

1997 For his achievements in the field of visual arts, Rudolf Leopold receives the Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class.

1998 The exhibition “Egon Schiele. The Leopold Collection” is shown in Schiele’s hometown of Tulln during the summer (at the former Minorite Monastery ). During autumn of the same year, a selection of works is shown at the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck.

2000 Over 230 artworks from the collection are shown as part of the Hannover World’s Fair at the renowned Kestner-Gesellschaft museum. Aosta, Museo Archeologico Regionale: “Schiele, Klimt and the Masters of Austrian Modern Art from the Leopold Foundation of Vienna”.

2001 September: gala opening of the Leopold Museum at the new MuseumsQuartier complex, which occupies the grounds of the former imperial court stables (which had previously, as the “Messepalast”, been used for trade fairs); Rudolf LeopoldLeopold is appointed director for lifelife; Rome, Complesso del Vittoriano: “Klimt-Kokoschka-Schiele. From Art Nouveau to Expressionism” (important works loaned).

2003

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Lugano, Museo d’Arte Moderna: “Egon Schiele”

2004 Vienna, Leopold Museum and Oldenburg, Horst Janssen Museum : “Schiele – Horst Janssen. Self- portrayal, Eros and Death”; Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Schiele Landscapes”; Palermo, Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna: “Egon Schiele from the Leopold Collection”; Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Goya. The Graphic Cycles”.

2005 Frankfurt am Main, Schirn Kunsthalle and Vienna, Leopold Museum: “The Naked Truth. Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka and Other Scandals”; Paris, Grand Palais : “Vienne 1900. Klimt, Schiele, Moser, Kokoschka” (important works loaned); VVVienna,Vienna, Leopold Museum : “Impressionists from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris”.

2006 Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Adolfo Winternitz"; “Body, Face, Soul. The Female Image from the 16 th to the 21 st Century”; Vienna, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere: “The Round Table. Egon Schiele and his Circle” (important works loaned); Vienna, Leopold Museum: “German Expressionists with Masterpieces from the ThyssenThyssen----BornemiszaBornemisza Collection”.

2007 Rome, Palazzo del Quirinale: “Masterpieces of European Art” (Austrian contribution: Egon Schiele’s Clothed Woman Reclining from the Leopold Collection); Oslo, Munch Museum: “Egon Schiele”; Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Kolo Moser”, largest Koloman Moser exhibition to date; Hamburg, Ernst Barlach Haus Stiftung Hermann F. Reemtsma: “Austria in UpheaUpheaval.val. Painting of the Interwar Period from the Leopold Collection, Vienna; Athens, Megaron: “Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka and Their Time. Masterpieces from the Leopold Museum, Vienna”; Vienna, Leopold Museum ::: “Between the Wars. Austrian Artists, 19181918––––1938”1938”1938”; “Grund, Mucha, Čapek, … Czech painting from the Kooperativa Collection”.

2008 Liverpool, Tate Liverpool: “Gustav Klimt: Painting, Design and Modern Life in Vienna” (important works loaned); Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Albin EggerEgger----Lienz”Lienz”Lienz”; “Christian Schad”; redone

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presentation of the collection “Vienna around 1900” (curated by Diethard Leopold and Peter Weinhäupl).

2009 Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz”Kollwitz”; “Pure Art Nouveau! Josef Maria Auchentaller”; “Edvard Munch and the Uncanny”Uncanny”; “Aksel Waldemar Johannessen”; “Egon Schiele, 90th Anniversary of his Death”.

2010 Milan, Palazzo Reale: “Egon Schiele and his Time”Time”. February: Prof. Leopold suffers a fall in Milan and is slow to recover; the celebration of Rudolf Leopold’sLeopold’s 85 ththth birthdaybirthday, planned for 2 March, is postponed; Vienna, Leopold Museum: “Otto Muehl at thethe Leopold Collection”Collection”. The celebration of Rudolf Leopold's birthday, including a preview of the largest Olbrich exhibition ever mounted, “Art Nouveau and Secession. Joseph Maria Olbrich”Olbrich”, finally takes place on 16 June 2010; this is last major public appearance by Prof. Rudolf Leopold, whose health continues to deteriorate. Rudolf Leopold dies of heart failure on Wednesday, 29 June 2010 at around 2:00 p.m. On Tuesday, 6 July 20102010, Leopold’s funeral is held at Grinzing Cemetery. He is interred in a grave of honour of the City of Vienna.

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