Albertina Museum

I recommend the Matisse and the Fauves show at the Albertina wholeheartedly.  Even with a colicky toddler, multiple guided tours and several high school classes, this is worth seeing;  it is one of the most beautiful and interesting collection of paintings I’ve seen.  Matisse has always been a little hit or miss to me, but his best is undeniably beautiful.  Some of these artists are so iconic it’s tough to imagine the uproar they caused a hundred odd years ago. It’s also curious that Cezanne and Van Gough, who are often referred to as strong influences by the audio guide and which can be seen to varying degrees in the paintings, didn’t pave the way for the “Fauve” with the critics more than they did.

That said, my favorites were by Derain, specifically the paintings of London commissioned by his dealer.  Braque, not known as a Fauvist, was part of the group, as was Marice de Viaminck, who I didn’t know before.  Georges Roualt doesn’t look like the others; his dark, gloomy pictures seemed to presage the dark social commentary of German interwar artists, but the audio guide assures he belongs.  There are other important artists also and there’s no point going over the whole list here; just click or copy http://www.albertina.at/jart/prj3/albertina/main.jart?rel=en&reserve-mode=active&content-id=1202307119260&ausstellungen_id=1313041137172

 Into your browser to get a better idea of what your in for if you go.

I also got a quick look at the Gottfried Helnwein exhibition.   It’s tempting dismiss him as shock for the sake of being shocking; itself is something of an artistic tradition.  I mean, bleeding children in Nazi SS uniforms?  Is it Halloween already?  However, there are reasons this is worthwhile.  For one thing, many if the images are arresting.  The painting technique is photorealistic to where some almost seemed like giclees, leaving the viewer to wonder, as with Dutch still lifes, exactly how it’s pulled it off.   As for the content, the audioguide narrator explains, with some help from the artist himself, that much of his art is a reaction to the continued suffering of innocents. Also, growing up in post war Austria, the artist saw a refusal of adults to seriously address issues of their recent history while making a big deal of trivial things.  Therefore this could be seen not just as shocking the midle class but as part of a tradition social and political commentary; a tradition it seems much 20^th century German art is part, and with reason. 

I was there for a little under three hours, which is enough time for either, not really for both.