Sunday, December 20, 2015

Art Gallery - Albertina Museum Vienna: The Plaza

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Albertina Museum Vienna - The Plaza

September 2015

The Albertina Museum contains approximately 65,000 pieces of drawings and other artwork, some are stored but many are displayed in its various sections. I had managed to photograph a fair number of those on display, they are too many to put into a single blog. If one can, it would be better to go there and see these artwork personally as sometimes photos do not project the details and give a good visual feel.
This blog is on the artwork (mainly statues) that are at the plaza and entrance level. Yes; even before entering the museum there are quite a number of art pieces to be seen, I did miss out some that are at the back of the building.

To get a proper perspective of the location of each section of the Albertina, above is a plan showing the various sections.

| Go to Main Gallery | Go to Batliner Collection>

Right at the street level, at the centre and abutting the plaza wall, is the Neptune Fountain with statues of Neptune and his wife Salacia. At Neptune feet is their infant son Triton. They sit on a pedestal held up by three mermen generally called tritons also.

A close up view of the tritons. the craftsmanship is so fine that the scales on their tails and the nerves on their arms could bee seen.

Flanking each side of the Neptune Fountain are two female statues. On the left is one holding an oar and a nett, signifying harvesting from the sea.

On the right side, is another lady statue with earrings made from clusters of grapes, signifying harvest from the land.

On the two side walls are three statues, each. These are the ones on the left wall...

... and these are those on the right wall. Except for the Neptune and the tritons, all the statues on the outside are of females, I wonder whether there is any significance in this.
(Click here for a Google Street View to better appreciate the positions of these statues)

Above some doorways near the steps leading up to the plaza level were light boxes promoting exhibitions by several masters.

This one was for Monet & Picasso.

This one is for the exhibition of Edvard Munch's work.

And this one is for the exhibition by Kubin & Feininger.

The Monument Against War And Fascism (Front View).
By Alfred Hrdlicka - Sculture in granite, marble, sandstone & bronze.

The Monument Against War And Fascism (Rear View).
The two halves represents war and fascism receptively.

At the bottom is a stone carving of a prisoner wrapped in barbed wire and washing the street. The monument is constructed from Mauthausen granite, identical to the stone that thousands of thousands of prisoners were forced to carry up the Steps of Death at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.

Nearby is a tall obelisk inscribed with names.

A close up of the names. I wonder who these people were.

At the top plaza is a copper statue of Archduke Albrecht by Kaspar von Zumbusch. The Albertina is named after him.

Even before we enter the museum proper there are strong indications of art like this montage of colourful posters from previous exhibitions.

TICKETS AND PRICES

Adults	€ 11.00
Vienna Card (Wien Karte) holders	€ 9.10
Senior citizens (aged 60 and over)	€ 9.00
Students with ID (up to age 26)	€ 8.00
Unemployed persons with AMS card	€ 7.00
Ö1 Club members with ID	€ 9.90
Groups of 15 or more persons	€ 8.00 each
Children and young people (younger than 19), Friends of the Albertina, ICOM members	no charge
Visitors with special needs	€ 7.00
Visitors with the so-called Kulturpass	no charge
Guided tour fee	€ 4.00