Browse masterpieces from the Gothic period to the present day as you make your way around Albertina, one of the world’s largest collections of original master graphical prints. The major collection explores the shift in styles during a 130-year period which included both Monet and Picasso, while more modern works by Warhol, Klimt and others are also on display. The temporary exhibitions are of the highest quality. You also have the chance to look around the imperial rooms of one of Maria Theresa’s daughters.
Housed in the southern tip of the Imperial Palace, the Albertina collection was started in 1776 by duke Albert of Saxony-Teschen. The duke was a son-in-law of 18th-century Empress Maria Theresa. These days its permanent exhibitions contain just some of the 1 million prints and 60,000 drawings of the collection. The Albertina’s rotating exhibits show the rest in stages and are known to be exceptional.
See Rubens' studies of children, Klimt’s studies of women, Warhol’s bold pop art, Renoir’s Portait of a Young Girl and Monet’s Water-Lily Pond among the masterpieces by European greats. Other big names showcased here range from Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo to Picasso, Cézanne, Schiele and Kokoschka. See how styles shifted from French Impressionism to contemporary art via Expressionism and other movements.
Also browse the Habsburg Staterooms. These colourful rooms with gilded carvings and parquet floors contain furniture from the time when Maria Theresa’s daughter, Marie-Christine, lived here.
Don’t miss the architecture and photographic collections. Be sure to check out the temporary exhibition spaces. Afterward, go to the museum’s café and restaurant on the ground floor for snacks and drinks in the chic ambiance of Vienna’s Albertinaplatz.
The Albertina is open daily, except Christmas and New Year, and has evening opening hours on Wednesdays. It is located in central Vienna and is accessible by public transportation. There is an admission fee. You can rent audio guides in English for a small additional price.
