KREMS.- After a successful debut last year, “Masterpieces Wachau” is returning in 2026 with a simple but evocative idea: to bring museum-quality art into the places where people gather, dine, travel and linger.

The project, organized by Kunstmeile Krems in cooperation with Donau Niederösterreich Tourismus, places selected works from the Artothek Niederösterreich in hotels, restaurants and other hospitality venues throughout the Wachau region. Rather than asking visitors to encounter art only inside a museum, the initiative brings paintings and prints into dining rooms, foyers, salons and favorite local gathering places.

The result is an informal, often unexpected meeting between art and everyday life. Guests may come across an original artwork while having breakfast, sharing a meal, waiting in a hotel lobby or enjoying a conversation after a day in the region’s vineyards and historic towns.

The works on view range from classical to contemporary art and include pieces by artists closely associated with Lower Austria, among them Karl Korab, Catarina Vopava, Eleonore Hettl, Thomas Reinhold and Sieglinde Layr. The selections were made in close collaboration with the participating businesses, with attention not only to artistic quality but also to how each work responds to its setting. Color, scale and atmosphere were considered in relation to each interior, creating a dialogue between art, architecture and hospitality.

“Kunst gehört nicht nur ins Museum – sie gehört ins Leben,” said Julia Flunger-Schulz, Managing Director of Kunstmeile Krems. “Art does not belong only in museums — it belongs in life. That is exactly what we are making visible in the Wachau: where people come together, in inns, hotels and favorite places across the region, art becomes part of everyday life.”

For the region, the project adds a cultural layer to an area already known for its landscape, wine, cuisine and historic character. “Masterpieces Wachau” invites visitors to discover Lower Austria through visual art, while also giving regional artists visibility beyond conventional exhibition spaces.

The project also serves as an introduction to Kunstmeile Krems itself, encouraging guests who encounter artworks in local businesses to explore the institution’s wider exhibition program.

Bernhard Schröder, Managing Director of Destination Donau Niederösterreich, said the strong response to last year’s edition encouraged the continuation of the partnership. The artworks from Artothek Niederösterreich, he noted, create a distinctive atmosphere in participating venues and invite guests to discover the Wachau “on an even deeper level.”

At the start of the season, the project will be presented in nine regional businesses, with the initiative continuing beyond the summer through Hofmeisterei Hirtzberger. Participating locations include Hotel Klinglhuber, Steigenberger Hotel & Spa, Hotel unter den Linden and Gasthof Leindl in Krems; GenussGut Wachau & Kosterei Rossatz in Rossatz; Alter Klosterkeller in Dürnstein; Adam Mühle in Spitz; Residenz Wachau in Aggsbach Dorf; Hotel Wachauerhof in Melk; and Hofmeisterei Hirtzberger in Weißenkirchen.

The Artothek Niederösterreich, which supplies the works, holds more than 1,500 pieces from the Lower Austria State Collections available for loan to private individuals and businesses. Its holdings include painting and printmaking, allowing art to circulate beyond storage rooms and museum walls into new public and private spaces.

At GenussGut Wachau, operator Oliver Wolf selected Eva Hradil’s Ballerina & Schlapfen for the restaurant, describing the work as a piece that combines elegance and lightness while blending naturally into the warm atmosphere of the space.

For Stefan Klinglhuber of Hotel Klinglhuber Krems, the project also has a personal dimension. His family’s connection to the artist Karl Korab goes back many years, and the hotel is now showing Korab’s Häuserzeile in its breakfast room. Klinglhuber said the work fits the setting perfectly, enriching the room with the artist’s characteristic quiet expressiveness.

By placing art where visitors already feel at ease, “Masterpieces Wachau” transforms hospitality venues into temporary exhibition spaces and turns the region itself into an open cultural route. In the Wachau, the project suggests, art does not need to interrupt daily life to be meaningful — it can become part of it.