Leopold Museum

WOW!
The Heidi Horten Collection
February 16–July 29, 2018

Leopold Museum
Museumsplatz 1
1070 Wien Vienna
Austria

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The exhibition WOW! The Heidi Horten Collection is the first public unveiling of one of Europe’s most sensational private art collections. Its presentation at the Leopold Museum in Vienna fulfills the collector’s long-cherished wish to make the masterpieces she has carefully assembled since the 1990s, spanning from Gustav Klimt to Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, available to a broad audience. The collector’s philanthropic dedication is further underscored by her support of educational programs to benefit children and adolescents, as well as weekly free admission to the museum for the general public. The exhibition, curated by Agnes Husslein-Arco, showcases 170 works by 75 artists and follows a chronological sequence of 20th century Western art. It also offers a unique view into the broad spectrum of art the collector has gathered over the past 35 years.

“The mid-1990s were an exceptionally opportune time for Heidi Goëss-Horten to build her impressive collection. While the acquisition of artworks was always driven by her personal taste, she can now survey a museum-worthy collection that exemplifies how certain art movements developed over time. The exhibition at the Leopold Museum presents a unique opportunity to access an art historically significant collection, and promises an exceptionally sensual experience.” –Curator Agnes Husslein-Arco

Seeing some common threads emerging—exciting connections between particular works and artists—Heidi Goëss-Horten trusted that the time had come for the collection’s premiere: “The art I’ve surrounded myself and lived with has become tangible art history. It was my desire to share this experience with other people, which has now become a reality thanks to the exhibition at the Leopold Museum. Moreover, it was vitally important to me to support art education programs and to allow the broadest possible access to the exhibition. Art, for me, has an element of connection. Through it, you can reach people of all ages and nationalities. The idea, then, that with this project I can help build a bridge between generations and people of different origins fills me with great joy!” –Heidi Goëss-Horten

“I am convinced that the interplay of private initiative and museum work—and the rich sweep of the Heidi Horten Collection exhibition that reflects the triumphal procession of modernity—will be a highlight of the Leopold Museum’s history of exhibitions. The exhibition also brings into focus our museum’s mission of being a place of sensual experience, aesthetic education, and knowledge.” –Director Hans-Peter Wipplinger

About the collection
Heidi Horten and her husband Helmut Horten started their art collection in the 1970s. At that time, they both focused on works of German Expressionism. Following her husband’s death in 1987, Heidi Horten decided to build her own collection based on new priorities. Disregarding prevailing trends in the art market, she concentrated on international works of Modernity, Neo-Expressionism, and American Pop Art, thereby creating a collection unique in quality and focus. The Heidi Horten Collection includes some 500 paintings, graphic works, and sculptures by world-class international artists, which has resulted in a representational cross-section of art history from Modernity to the present.

Aside from German Expressionism, with masterworks by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Emil Nolde, and Max Pechstein, key areas of focus in the Heidi Horten Collection also include abstract approaches by Cy Twombly, Mark Rothko, and Ernst Wilhelm Nay, and works by prominent figures from American Pop Art like Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Roy Lichtenstein. Further strengthening its international scope are indispensable works by Marc Chagall, Georg Baselitz, Francis Bacon, Fernand Léger, Gerhard Richter, Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, and Damien Hirst.

The exhibition is on show until July 29, 2018 at Leopold Museum (Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna, Austria).

The accompanying catalogue can be ordered online here. 

Hours: open daily, except Tuesdays: 10am–6pm, Thursdays: 10am–9pm. Free entry Thursdays from 6–9pm

Press information
PR Heidi Horten Collection
Pia Sääf
T +43 (0) 664 8454084
pia.saaf [​at​] hortencollection.com