The art collector couple acquired its first works of art after a stay in the USA in the late 1950s. The young art lovers felt inspired by the innovation in US art and started to collect in Austria. A seminal group of works from Austrian modernism marked the beginnings. Artists such as Herbert Boeckl and Albert Paris Gütersloh, major contributors to a renaissance of Austrian art after 1945, had particular pride of place. They were followed by works by Alfred Kubin or artists from the Nötscher Kreis.

	HERBERT BOECKL Die Geschwister 1 (Martina und Leo), 1931	ARNULF RAINER Kometenbahn, 1963

The big step toward Austrian contemporary art was made in the early 1970s, when the art collectors bought a piece by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, one of the country’s controversial artists at the time. Their access to art and their take on collecting art was influenced by their encounter at the time with Kurt Moldovan. Through his agency the couple met and learned to appreciate artists such as Arnulf Rainer, Kurt Kocherscheidt and Franz Ringel. The collection was further expanded, including artists from the St. Stefan group (Markus Prachensky, Josef Mikl), Vienna Actionism (Hermann Nitsch, Günther Brus), very individualistic approaches exemplified by Maria Lassnig or VALIE EXPORT and, later on, representatives of the so-called Neue Wilde (Herbert Brandl, Siegfried Anzinger, Hubert Schmalix).

HERMANN NITSCH Schüttbild mit Malhemd (Aus dem Auferstehungszyklus II), 2002 © VBK, Wien, 2008	GÜNTHER BRUS Zerreissprobe, 1970

In the late 1980s, Karlheinz and Agnes Essl started to put their collection of Austrian contemporary art into an international context. First new acquisitions included works by Asger Jorn, Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky, artists from the CoBrA group, who had a strong impact on Franz Ringel and the artists in the "Wirklichkeiten" group. In the 1990s the focus was extended to US artists (Morris Louis, Frank Stella, Jim Dine). Germany (Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, Jörg Immendorff), France (Pierre Soulages, Bettina Rheims), Italy (Emilio Vedova, Mimmo Paladino), Spain (Antonio Tápies, Antonio Saura), the UK (Marc Quinn, Damien Hirst) and, once more, the USA (Alex Katz, Peter Halley, Paul Mc Carthy) were also represented.

MARIA LASSNIG Woman Power. 1979	JÖRG IMMENDORFF Ohne Titel, 1979

The inauguration of the Essl Museum in November 1999 made the collection accessible to a much larger public. Current international contemporary art tendencies are explored and new purchases steadily enlarge the collection. Photographic art (Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky, Gregory Crewdson, Nan Goldin), video art and installations (Bill Viola, Tony Oursler, Marie-Jo Lafontaine), and sculpture (Jonathan Meese, Judy Fox, Stephan Balkenhol) are added to the collection that used to focus mainly on painting.

PHILIP TAAFFE Unit of Direction, 2003	GREGORY CREWDSON Untitled (mother on bed with blood), 2004

From early 2000 onwards, the travels of the art collectors and exhibitions have opened up additional geographic spheres of interest: contemporary Australian art (Tracy Moffat, Emely Kame Kngwarreye), the Balkans (Maja Bajevic, Antoni Maznevski), Leipzig (Neo Rauch, Matthias Weischer), Mexico (Gabriel Oroszco), China (Fang Lijun, Yue Minjun, Zhang Xiaogang) and Israel. Inspired by these exhibitions and the recurring series >emerging artists< and ESSL AWARD< which concentrate on young artists that have not yet established a presence in the market, the collection grows continuously and develops new focal points.

JONATHAN MEESE Der Propagandist, 2005	ZHANG XIAOGANG Yellow Baby, 2005-2006

COLLECTION MAINTENANCE AND ART CONSERVATION

CANDIDA HÖFER Restaurierungswerkstätte Sammlung Essl Klosterneuburg Ed. 1/6, 2003	Art conservation department 2008 Photo: Peter Kuffner

The collection contains works of all different kind of materials such as contemporary paintings, works on paper, photographs, objects and modern media. The conservation department maintains collaboration with conservators from different areas of conservation expertise.

The museums’ conservators take care for the permanent collection and works on loan from other institutions. Their responsibilities include documenting condition, diagnosing problems, recommending and carrying out restoration work. Monitoring the museum environment to ensure that appropriate temperature and humidity are given is as important as establishing procedures for safe storage, transport and installing of exhibitions.

Installation of a frozen head (material: coconut milk) by Marc Quinn (Symposium 2007)

Scientific Articles Essl Museum
Sorry, the articles are in German versions only, please contact us, to get more information in English.

	Karin Steiner, Unter Anderem: Mit Kupferpulver und Lack, Magazin des Österreichischen Restauratorenverbandes, (Journal 01) Mai 2008, S. 36-44 (deutsche Version)
	Ute Kannengießer, Kühlen Kopf bewahren, Magazin des Österreichischen Restauratorenverbandes, (Journal 01) Mai 2008, S. 17-19 (deutsche Version)
	Georg Prast, Verklebung und Stabilisierung von Silikon, Magazin des Österreichischen Restauratorenverbandes, (Journal 01) Mai 2008, S. 23-25. (deutsche Version)
	Daniela Kaminek, Veranstaltungsrückblick: "Kühlen Kopf bewahren – Zeitgenössische Kunst und Ihre Erhaltung", Essl Museum Klosterneuburg, 14.Juni 2007, Restauro-Forum für Restauratoren, Konservatoren und Denkmalpfleger, (Heft 6) September 2007, S. 357-359 (deutsche Version)

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