RUBENS IN WIEN A JOINT EXHIBITION OF THE MUSEUM, THE KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM AND THE GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE WIEN

For three months the unique joint exhibition RUBENS IN WIEN will link three of ’s major museums, all with very different histories and very different positions on the Viennese art scene. Common to all three institutions, the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM, the KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM and the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE WIEN, is their significant holdings of the works of , one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the Baroque, a circumstance which makes Vienna the capital of Flemish Baroque outside Flanders.

Many cities in Europe lay claim to the title of “city of Rubens”. These claims are either based on biographical grounds, i.e., that Rubens lived there, or because of the holdings of his paintings in their museums. With the paintings by Rubens in the KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM and the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE WIEN, Vienna has always been one of the most important Rubens cities besides Antwerp. Now, with the return of the major works in the collections of the Princes von und zu Liechtenstein in the spring of 2004 from to their erstwhile home in Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna has far outstripped all other cities in respect of both the number and significance of its Rubens paintings. Through the variety and quality of their holdings, the great Viennese collections are now able to provide a com- prehensive survey of his entire oeuvre. In no other city are all the epochs of the Flemish master represented in its galleries in this range and quality.

The presentations of Rubens’ works in each of the three museums combine to provide a magnificent overview of the artist’s oeuvre, in which all the phases and aspects of his artistic production are represented: the KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, the imperial collection, holds large-scale altar-pieces by Peter Paul Rubens which show the artist as the lead- ing representative of Counter-Reformation religious painting, while the Great Gallery of the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM is presenting the monumental cycle of paintings depicting the legend of the Roman consul, Decius Mus, which was acquired by Prince Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein. With the acquisition of this ensemble the history paintings of Rubens set the pattern for the Princely Collections, complemented by the most intense and – in the case of the likenesses of his children – most intimate portraits painted by the Flemish master.

The collection of Count Lamberg, which formed the basis of the holdings of the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE, is quite different in character: as a private collector Lamberg was primarily interested in the genesis of the paintings as well as their quality, which explains the large number of oil sketches in his bequest.

For the joint exhibition RUBENS IN WIEN the works of Peter Paul Rubens, partly rehung in new contexts in all three museums and also complemented by loans, will present the entire oeuvre of the great Flemish master.

THE HISTORY OF THE RUBENS COLLECTIONS IN VIENNA Most of the works by Rubens in the paintings gallery of the KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM can be traced back and documented to the artist’s own lifetime. One of the reasons for this is that art-loving Habsburgs such as Archduke Leopold Wilhelm were in the position to acquire collections of paintings belonging to contemporaries of the master artist. A number of the paintings in the former imperial gallery derive directly from the artist’s estate which was auctioned after his death.

Towards the end of the 17th century many of Rubens’ paintings were still on the market and several art-lovers were vying with one another to acquire them. There were three collectors in particular who recognised this unique opportunity and were virtually competing against each other to acquire the best of Peter Paul Rubens’ works: Prince Elector Johann Wilhelm of the Palatinate, Prince Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria and Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein.

Prince Johann Adam Andreas I for example was able to add 22 paintings by Rubens (which are still in the Princely Collections today) for the gallery of the palace in Bankgasse to the “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” which had been pur- chased by Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein before 1643. A large number of other works by Rubens that belonged to the Princely Collections at that time however had to be sold in later ages. These include the famous paintings “Samson and Delilah” and the “Massacre of the Innocents”, the latter of which was put up for auction by a private collector in 2002 and sold at Sotheby’s in London for EUR 77.3 m. The reigning Prince, Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein, was able to considerably enlarge and extend the holdings of works by Rubens in the Princely Collections for the presentation at the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM with the purchase of a further five paintings.

The popularity of works by the Flemish master reached another peak at the end of the 18th century when Joseph Rosa, the director of the imperial paintings gallery, was sent to the Netherlands in 1775 in order to acquire paintings from Antwerp for the Vienna gallery. The Ildefonso altar, originally donated to the Ildefonso brotherhood at the Church of St Jacop op de Coudenberg by the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, was eventually purchased for the imperial gallery in 1777, when the abbey was in need of funds to rebuild the church which had been destroyed by fire.

Count Lamberg added to his Rubens collection throughout his lifetime, bequeathing it to the Academy of Fine Arts in 1822. The inventory lists 28 paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, of which according to the latest art-historical expertise 17 are today accepted as being autograph works. These are being exhibited in the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE WIEN. As a private collector who had to accommodate his treasures on the walls of his apartment in Vienna, Count Lamberg had to confine his acquisitions to small-scale works by the Flemish Baroque master. However, as an admirer of virtuoso brushwork, Lamberg had recognised the aesthetic value of Rubens’ oil sketches at time when the prevailing taste in Vienna tended towards academic Classicism.

2004 – THE YEAR OF RUBENS Despite the fact that no anniversary as such was being celebrated, with the exhibitions and events in Lille, Antwerp, Genua, Brunswick and the Albertina in Vienna, the year 2004 has turned into a Year of Rubens, the close of which is being marked in Vienna with a unique joint exhibition. The initial motive for declaring 2004 to be the Year of Rubens was a group of seven exhibitions mounted in Antwerp that were devoted to the less well-known facets of Rubens’ personality and art and which focused on Rubens as collector, graphic artist, designer, teacher and figure of inspiration.

This joint presentation of all the holdings of Rubens in the collections of the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM, the KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM and the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE forms the climax and conclusion of the Year of Rubens 2004. The aim of this large-scale joint exhibition is to present and document the permanent exhibits of these three collections as a body for the first time, highlighting the international significance of Vienna as a city of Baroque and of the painting of Peter Paul Rubens.

RUBENS IN WIEN – A JOINT PRESENTATION A joint project of this scale has never before been undertaken between museums in Vienna. Joint marketing will offer new opportunities both to the individual museums participating in the project and to tourism in Vienna in general. A broad- based advertising campaign has been developed specially for the joint exhibition, representing all three museums and focusing on the art of Peter Paul Rubens. The embracing gesture of the motif chosen as the “trade mark” for the campaign conveys the opulence of Peter Paul Rubens’ oeuvre in a perhaps unusual but nonetheless highly original manner.

The focus of the communicative strategy for the exhibition RUBENS IN WIEN is the unique number and wealth of the paintings being presented in this joint exhibition. THE LARGEST RUBENS EXHIBITION IN THE WORLD has become the leitmotif for an ambitious project that proudly projects the international rank of Vienna as a city of Rubens. The scale of the project is not being communicated in the public advertising campaign by presenting a selection of individual works but by the abstraction of a detail from a single painting by Rubens. The way the arm of Boreas – a detail from the paint- ing “Boreas’ Rape of Oreithyia” from the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE – embraces the typography stands for the joint endeavours involved in realising this project of bringing together the huge treasury of Rubens works in Vienna and presenting them to the public. This common motif is being used not only on posters, billboards and Citylights to decorate the cityscape while the exhibi- tion runs but also in newspaper advertising, leaflets, on the joint website at www.rubensinwien.at as well as on products developed specifically for the exhibition such as postcard booklets. The tramcars of the “D” line, which conveniently links all three museums and will be branded the “Rubens Line”, will display the motif for the duration of the exhibition.

The joint marketing strategy also includes a range of offers for visitors: there is a combined ticket for the exhibition costing EUR 15 which is valid for single admission to all three museums at a time of the visitor’s choosing. A shuttle bus will run at regular intervals between the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM, the KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM and the GEMÄLDEGALERIE DER AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE and is free to combined ticket holders. Connecting all three venues in a physical sense, it is intended to make visiting them all in the same day easier and to prepare visitors for the exhibition.

The art education departments of all three museums have worked out a joint programme of guided tours. The RUBENS TOTAL guided tour ticket allows visitors to participate in guided tours of their choice in all three museums over one week- end (Friday to Sunday) at a special price. These tours offer a coordinated range of focal themes which will change each month.

The RUBENS TOUR ticket is for groups and can be booked in advance. Groups are assigned an individual professional guide to visit all three museums and the ticket includes transport via shuttle bus. In addition, each of the three museums provides a comprehensive invidual programme of guided tours and additional events. Further information can be obtained by visiting www.rubensinwien.at

A catalogue is being issued to mark this joint exhibition, published by Christian Brandstätter Verlag. This labishly-illustrated edition documents all the autograph paintings by Rubens in Vienna supplemented by fascinating detailed photographs providing illuminating insights into the painting technique of the artist. In view of the international significance of this exhibition, the catalogue is also being published in an English translation.

RUBENS IN WIEN: with this as their motto, three major Viennese museums have come together to devote a comprehen- sive exhibition to the greatest Flemish Baroque artist which will run from 5 December 2004 to 27 February 2005, thereby providing a unique accent to the year of Rubens exhibitions in Europe. This exhibition proves that joint projects such as this are feasible as well as of the greatest benefit for the city’s international reputation and its visitors.

Dr Johann Kräftner Dr Wilfried Seipel Dr Renate Trnek