Vienna - Liechtenstein Palace

(Local Name: Stadtpalais) This Summer Palace in Fürstengasse is accounted one of the most beautiful Baroque buildings in Vienna. Domenico Martinelli erected the building between 1691 and 1711 together with a town mansion for Johann Adam Andreas, Prince of Liechenstein, whose family still owns it to this day. The rich sculptural decoration on the facade is by Giovanni Giuliani, the frescoes in the vestibule by Johann Michael Rottmayr, the magnificent staircases and marble halls are the work of Andrea Pozzo and Antonio Bellucci, while Santino Bussi was responsible for the High Baroque stucco work.

Until 1944 the Liechenstein Gallery was housed here; since 1979 it has been a permanent home for contemporary art following the acquisition on permanent loan of pictures from the Ludwig Collection (from Aachen) and the Hahn Collection (from Cologne), including works by the neo- Dadaists from the 1960s and 1970s. The Palais Liechenstein collections represent a cross section of international 20th century art. Highlights are the "modern classicists", with works by Picasso, Kupka, Nolde, Schlemmer, Lipschitz, Kirchner, Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka. Individual rooms are allotted to various art movements such as Expressionism (Schiele, Pechstein, Jawlensky), Cubism (Gleizes, Léger, Duchamp-Villon), Futurism (Balla), Constructivism (Pevsner, Albers), Surrealism (Magritte, Ernst), Nouveau Réalisme (Arman, Raysse), Viennese Fantastic Realism (Hausner, Lehmden, Fuchs, Hutter), Viennese Actionism (Muehl, Nitsch, Rainer), American Pop Art (Warhol, Rauschenberg) and Photorealism. International artists of the 1980s and 1990s are also represented (Baselitz, Immendorff, Tatafiore). In addition, temporary exhibitions are held every six to seven months, in which attempts are made to relate the Baroque ambience of the Palais Liechenstein to displays of contemporary art.

Counts Kaunitz and Khevenhüller were previous owners of this four-winged urban mansion before, completely rebuilt, it came into the possession of the wealthy Princes of Liechtenstein in 1694. The architect of this impressive house as well as of the "Gartenpalais" (summer palace) of the same name was Domenico Martinelli. The richly ornamented side doorway was probably the work of J. B. Fischer von Erlach and dates from c. 1700. The monumental main doorway is decorated with statues by Giuliani, who also designed the cherubs in the stairwell. In the courtyard stands an imposing Triton fountain (1695). Because of its suspect construction, with subsidence in the walls and floors requiring constant repairs, the locals have nicknamed the Palais the "Künstlerversorgungshaus" or "welfare home for artisans".