VIENNA.- In May of this year, the Albertina was able to bring about the largest expansion of a collection in the history of the Austrian Federal Museums: The Batliner Collection, with its more than 500 works of classical modernism, went to the Albertina on permanent loan.

Under the title “Monet to Picasso: The Batlinger Collection”, the collection’s key works are being presented to the public at large for the first time through 6 April 2008. The show “Monet to Picasso: The Batlinger Collection” heralds a new epoch for the Austrian museum landscape and is a milestone in the history of the Albertina. The expansion of the collection represents a logical development of the Albertina’s course, whereby it is noteworthy that the integration of the Batliner and Forberg collections has not required any public funding.

“Monet to Picasso” offers an informative overview of one of the most exciting chapters in the history of art: the turn from figural to abstract art. Bringing the collections together makes it possible to appreciate this development through the succession of French Impressionism (Monet, Degas), Post-Impressionism (Toulouse-Lautrec and Cézanne), Fauvism (Matisse), Neo-Impressionism, Picasso’s late work, and the Surrealism of Miró and Klee, progressing then to the Russian avant-garde, Abstract Expressionism with Rothko and Newman, and the New Realism of Yves Klein.

In 2008 the Albertina will be establishing a permanent exhibition of the newly acquired works. For the first time, it will be possible to present the masters of classical modernism on a permanent basis in Vienna. The Albertina and its director Klaus Albrecht Schröder have always striven to present art in its totality. Thus it has been possible to reach much wider segments of the public: in the four years since the Albertina’s reopening in 2003, the museum has welcomed more than 3 million visitors.

Until now, the paucity of classical modernist art in Austria has resulted in a deficient basis for understanding contemporary art. As a result, contemporary art was often met with resentment, apprehension or complete perplexity. The new collections make it possible to close this gap, opening completely new opportunities, especially for schools.

The Batliner Collection and the Albertina’s existing collection, augmented by the Forberg Collection, combine ideally. This is made readily apparent by the fact that around 50% of the exhibition has been put together using the Albertina’s own inventory.