Wiener Aktionismus Museum

What is Vienna Actionism

One of Austria’s most important art movements after 1945 is being permanently honoured for the first time with the founding of the new Wiener Aktionismus Museum. The former Friedrichshof Collection forms the basis of the museum’s holdings. For the opening exhibition, works from Hermann Nitsch’s early oeuvre that have rarely been shown to date will also be taken out of storage and made accessible to the public again.

This group exhibition will include action photographs and early action paintings by Hermann Nitsch, as well as object collages such as the menstrual pad picture from 1964. It is works like these that were to land Nitsch in prison three times in the following years and ultimately led to a virtual ban from his profession. At this time, H.C. Artmann, Brus, Kubelka, Rühm and Oswald Wiener were already in exile abroad. Nitsch also felt disgusted by the country and lived mainly in Germany for almost 10 years.

The museum currently houses the world’s largest collection of works by the main exponents Günter Brus (*1938), Hermann Nitsch (1938-2022), Otto Mühl (1925-2013) and Rudolf Schwarzkogler (1940-1969) from the early 1960s and 1970s. In the museum’s first exhibition entitled “What is Vienna Actionism?”, the many aspects of Vienna Actionism will be highlighted from mid-March and an initial overview of the socio-political and cultural significance of Vienna Actionism will be provided.

The ceremonial opening of the Wiener Aktionismus Museum will take place on March 15, 2024.

The opening exhibition “What is Vienna Actionism?” will be open to visitors from 16 March.
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday 11am – 6pm, admission: €7