18/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullRescue of the Crew of the Austrian Brig “Pegno d’Amicizia” on 25 October 18521853[Christiaan Cornelis Kannemans]Christiaan Cornelis KannemansOil on canvas This large painting shows a dark and brooding stormy seascape with leaden skies. Two rescue boats are battling dangerous waves to come to the aid of a large merchant ship, which is already keeling precariously to one side. This painting represents the courageous rescue of the crew from the Austrian merchant ship “Pegno dʼAmicizia” that had run into difficulties near Brouwershaven off the Dutch coast in October 1852. Marine painter Christiaan Cornelis Kannemans, who specialized in depictions of stormy seascapes, brilliantly demonstrates his artistic skills in this work. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/7653/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullThe Sick Musician1847[Eduard Ritter]Eduard RitterOil on wood We look into the bedroom of a sick musician. He lies in bed with a pained expression and his hand held to his chest. The French horn he is cradling, the violin on a pile of sheet music, and the portrait of composer Franz Liszt are all references to his profession. Two children turn expectantly to look at the visitors, presumably colleagues from the theater, who are entering the room together with their mother. A theater notice with the words “Vielka” and “Lind” is attached to the folding screen. Vielka, a singspiel by Giacomo Meyerbeer, was performed at the Theater an der Wien in 1847 with the popular Swedish soprano Jenny Lind singing the title role. It seems that the musician was unable to play and missed the opera star’s performance. The wealth of detail in this scene is a classic example of Eduard Ritter’s sometimes humorous genre paintings. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/2430/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullPortable Smoking Area1996[Sarah Lucas]Sarah LucasWood, chair, iron, light bulb, weights A cantilever chair with obvious signs of wear and tear and a red-lacquered stand on casters supporting a wooden box play the main parts in this work by Sarah Lucas. As one of the key Young British Artists, Lucas achieved international acclaim in the late 1980s. The object Portable Smoking Area was made at a time when smoking indoors was still the norm and can be understood as a wry commentary on individual needs and collective rules. Its potential function as a mobile smoking cabin is immediately apparent, closely followed by questions concerning its possible use in a museum context, and its overarching role as a work of art. Object arthttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/61353/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullJune Roses1898[Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh]Margaret Macdonald MackintoshPencil and water-based color on paper Zarte Rosenranken umspielen die Gestalt einer jungen Frau. Mit geschlossenen Augen wendet sie sich vier nackten Kleinkindern zu, die sie neugierig mustern. Das Aquarell in zarten Grüntönen von Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh ist das erste Werk einer ausländischen Künstlerin, das 1903, im Gründungsjahr der Modernen Galerie, für die Sammlung angekauft wurde. Mit ihrer innovativen Bildsprache, die auf Tiefenraum zur Gänze verzichtet, beeinflusste die wichtige Vertreterin des schottischen Jugendstils Gustav Klimt und die Entwicklung der Wiener Flächen- und Linienkunst maßgeblich.Drawing arthttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/6306/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullWinged altarpiece of Saint Catherine (?) (the 'Song of Songs Altarpiece')c. 1520/1530[Kremser Werkstatt]Kremser WerkstattShrine made of spruce, limewood wings (the exterior panels were detached and remounted on the interior of the wings), traces of original polychromy, gilded details From the early 16th century onward, new forms increasingly found their way into art previously defined by the Gothic tradition. Many works from this period are characterized by an exciting mix of styles as a result. In the case of this small altarpiece, the classical architectural details and decorative elements point toward the Renaissance. Its overall winged design and its subject matter, on the other hand, still follow late medieval conventions. A recently identifi ed shrine sculpture, which probably originally held a sword, makes it likely that the ensemble was an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Catherine.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3761/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullThe Countesses Caroline and Zoë Thomatis1788–1789[Johann Baptist Lampi der Ältere]Johann Baptist Lampi der ÄltereOil on canvasJohann Baptist Lampi the Elder presents the sisters Adelaide and Zoë Tomatis to the viewer. The two eldest daughters from the Tomatis family gaze back at us with a self-confident air. A pen and portfolio in Adelaide’s hand and a laurel wreath on Zoë’s head reflect the sisters’ artistic spirit. Their father, Count Carlo Tomatis, was director of the Warsaw Opera House for two years, while their mother, Caterina Gattai Tomatis, was engaged as a dancer there during the same period. We do not know why this painting was never completed. But it is precisely this unfinished state that highlights the successful characterization of two well-educated girls on the threshold of adulthood, as was typical of portraiture during the Age of Enlightenment. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8227/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullSecond Sculptures1979[Margot Pilz]Margot PilzBlack and white fotoMargot Pilz’s “Second Sculptures” respond to a defining personal experience: attending the 3rd Viennese Women’s Festival in 1978, she is arrested and suffers light injuries; she files a complaint, but the police refuse to investigate. The photographic sequence is the first in which she stages her own female body as the subject of her art—a key juncture in feminist art’s struggle for women’s self-determination and control over their identities. The result is a poignant expression of what it feels like to be at the mercy of an oppressive power. In framing the performing human body as a temporary sculpture, Pilz anticipates the principal idea of an expanded conception of sculpture that will later be developed by Erwin Wurm and others.Photographyhttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/86084/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullMerrymakers in a Gondolac. 1873/1876[Anton Romako]Anton RomakoOil on woodThe gondola appears far too small to accommodate this boisterous party of seven clad in Rococo costume. But the artist is not concerned with such trivial matters. He is more interested in the charming effect of the colorful garments, arranged in sketchy dabs of color like flowers in a still life. In Merry Company in a Gondola, Romako was following in the footsteps of the greatest artist of the French Rococo, Jean-Antoine Watteau, the quintessential painter of courtly festivities in the outdoors. Romako is demonstrating his virtuosity as a painter in this celebration of the sensory intoxication of such gatherings.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/4156/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullApollo Shooting Plague-Tipped Arrowsundated[Alexander Rothaug]Alexander RothaugOil on canvasHis métier was classical mythology and the world of ancient German sagas. In this work Rothaug has modelled an idealized superhero in paint. Visually striking and with a pathos that is hard to surpass, the taut muscular body extends from the base to the top of the painting. It is Apollo, the vengeful sun god who is mercilessly showering the Greeks with his plague arrows, plunging them into disaster in the Trojan War. Painted shortly after World War I, it is no coincidence that the scene alludes to the Spanish Flu. The pandemic had spread rapidly since 1918, claiming millions of lives. The depiction thus becomes a symbol of a time blighted by suffering and wrath. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/2842/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullIn the Fog1882[Marie Bashkirtseff]Marie BashkirtseffOil on canvas In this small-format painting, Marie Bashkirtseff has depicted a Paris suburb in the fog. It is an unspectacular street scene in which the artist moves toward Impressionism. Born into an aristocratic family from what is now Ukraine, Bashkirtseff studied painting in Paris. She died of tuberculosis at the age of only twenty-six. After her death, her family arranged for her diaries to be published. As a result, she became known throughout Europe and many women artists looked to her as a role model. In the Fog was shown at a major exhibition in Vienna in 1910. The Austrian Association of Women Artists bought the work and gave it to the Modern Gallery, today’s Belvedere. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/178/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullThe Doge Francesco Foscari Banishing His Son Jacopo (“I due Foscari”)c. 1838[Michelangelo Grigoletti]Michelangelo GrigolettiOil on canvasWe have been transported to the fifteenth century during the heyday of the Venetian Republic. The main character in this scene is the great doge Francesco Foscari. This image conveys how, as a powerful statesman, he was still not above the law. Foscari is saying farewell to his son Jacopo in the loggia of the Doge’s Palace. Jacopo was to be banished to Crete, despite the fact that the charges against him had never been proven. Although he was doge, his father had no authority to reopen the trial and rehabilitate Jacopo. This is one of the many pictures that during the mid-nineteenth century found their way from Italy to Vienna, where they were exhibited at the Upper Belvedere.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/1837/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullThe Stoning of St. Stephenc. 1760/1790[Franz Xaver Wagenschön]Franz Xaver WagenschönOil on canvasSaint Stephen, a deacon in Jerusalem’s early church, was an evangelist who cared for the poor. He is regarded as the first martyr of Christianity and is depicted here at the moment of his stoning. Small paintings of this kind are often preparatory sketches for larger works. This composition does indeed recall the high altarpiece in the parish church at Kirchberg am Wagram in Lower Austria. However, this was created by the painter Carlo Innocenzo Carlone. Wagenschön therefore based his oil sketch on the altarpiece, possibly as an addition to his personal collection of inspirational sources. Arts and craftshttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/7818/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullBalloon Seller1931[Otto Rudolf Schatz]Otto Rudolf SchatzOil on canvas Otto Rudolf Schatz returned from World War I as a committed pacifist. In his subsequent works, the artist critically commented on the misery, loneliness, and crime in the big city. This motif of the cool and melancholy Balloon Seller thus calls to mind the seedy side of the Prater amusement park in Vienna. The fact that the buyer is not visible makes space for sinister associations. In 1938 Schatz was banned from producing and exhibiting art and went underground in Prague over the ensuing years. He was arrested in 1944 and deported to different labor camps and to Gräditz concentration camp. After World War II, Schatz returned to Vienna and documented the rebuilding and recovery of the city in his paintings.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/1622/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullNeugefallener Schnee1909[Gustaf Fjæstad]Gustaf FjæstadOil on canvasZu beiden Seiten des zugefrorenen Wasserlaufs liegt die Natur unter einer dicken Schneedecke begraben. Kein Lebewesen scheint die „weiße“ Stille zu stören, nur Fußstapfen und der verfallene Zaun am Waldrand erinnern an die Präsenz des Menschen. Stimmungsvolle Passagen der verschneiten Landschaft seiner Wahlheimat Värmland waren bereits früh das Markenzeichen des schwedischen Künstlers Gustaf Adolf Fjæstad. Mit Neugefallener Schnee schuf er 1909 eine monochrom anmutende, in Mauve- und Weißtönen gehaltene Leinwand von beeindruckender Größe, die seinem Ruf als „Schneemaler par excellence“ alle Ehre machte. Es war eines der teuersten Werke, die aus einer Hagenbund-Ausstellung für die Moderne Galerie angekauft wurden.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/125/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullSouthern Seaport1956[Gustav Kurt Beck]Gustav Kurt BeckOil on canvas Beck’s major work is dominated by blues and grays. Clear outlines define a network of concise shapes: irregular squares, rectangles, and a few circles. Although the title suggests a specific motif, the geometric composition is actually more reminiscent of a map or a city plan. Port in the South shows the abstract approach of a major artist from Austria’s postwar avant-garde. The work attests to a tentative departure into modern art, which took it all the way to the documenta in Kassel, the world’s most important art exhibition. Nevertheless, to this day art history often fails to give Beck his due recognition. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/9130/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullThe Lamentation of Abel1692[Johann Michael Rottmayr]Johann Michael RottmayrOil on canvas A harrowing scene: Abel’s corpse is sprawled on the ground, as if on stage in the spotlight. The bloody head, the grief of Adam and Eve, God the Father set against glowing clouds—all trigger astonishment, horror, and compassion. This painting and its companion piece, the Sacrifice of Isaac, anticipate Christ’s sacrificial death and the Lamentation. Johann Michael Rottmayr was one of the pioneers of High Baroque painting in Austria and worked in many churches, monasteries, and palaces. The fresco in the dome of St. Charles’s Church in Vienna, a monumental work painted when the artist was over seventy, marks the brilliant culmination of his prolific career. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3092/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullFortieth Human Situation: Being a Parisian!1964[Curt Stenvert]Curt StenvertCollagierte Schaufensterpuppe, Plastikblumen, Spielzeugautos, Holz, verschiedene Materialien A mannequin is standing in a wooden box—life-sized and covered with views of Paris. Artificial flowers, toy cars, and plastic frogs are strewn at her feet. The subject of this assemblage is how people are totally consumed by the artificial construct of an urban world. What does a city do to us? How is human perception manipulated or even distorted by the daily onslaught of information and impressions? Although unrecognized in Austria, Viennese artist Curt Stenvert gained international acclaim with his object art. From the 1960s he explored a series of “Human Situations” with the aim of stimulating reflection and reappraisal.Object arthttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/17781/rdf/internal/media/dispatcher/144011/fullThe Judgment of Paris1885-1887[Max Klinger]Max KlingerOil on canvas, framing in wood and plaster The goddesses Venus, Athena, and Hera approach the shepherd Paris without a hint of bashfulness. They present their bodies and gaze steadily at Paris and Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Hermes takes it all in his stride, pausing for a moment in a self-absorbed athletic pose. Paris, on the other hand, seems to recoil from such an obvious display of femininity—just like the male audience around 1900. Most men were left feeling “absolutely alien and uncomprehending” when faced with this painting, as the work’s first owner Alexander Hummel wrote, whereas it was genuinely admired by women. Klinger showed the goddesses exuding self-confidence rather than in lascivious poses. And confronted with so much self-assurance, the male world simply had to capitulate. Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/6167/rdf