Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz

The Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz is an avant-garde museum in Linz, the third-largest city in Austria. It is one of the country’s most prominent museums of modern and contemporary art, showcasing works from the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum is located on the banks of the Danube river, between the Nibelungen Bridge and the Brucknerhaus concert hall. Its distinctive architecture, featuring a transparent glass facade that glows in different colors at night, makes it a landmark of the city.

The History of the Museum

The Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz was founded in 1998, as a successor to the New Gallery of the City of Linz, which had been established after World War II. The New Gallery had a rich collection of artworks, mainly from the collection of Berlin art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt (1888-1965), who had donated 120 pieces of art to the city of Linz in 1953. The collection included works by famous artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, Emil Nolde, Lovis Corinth, and Max Pechstein. The New Gallery was housed on the second floor of the Lentia 2000 shopping center since 1979, but it soon became evident that the space was inadequate for the growing collection and the increasing number of visitors.

The city of Linz decided to build a new museum, dedicated to modern and contemporary art, on the site of the former city power plant, which had been demolished in 1992. The name Lentos was chosen for the new museum, derived from the Celtic word lentos, meaning flexible or curved. This word was probably the original name for Linz, as the Danube flows in a curve through the eastern part of the city. The name also reflects the museum’s vision of being open, dynamic, and adaptable to the changing trends and demands of the art world.

The Architecture of the Museum

The design of the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz was the result of a two-stage competition, which attracted 219 entries from architects from all over the world. The winning design was submitted by Zurich architects Weber Hofer Partner, who were awarded the contract on November 16, 1998. The construction of the museum began in 2000 and was completed in 2003, at a cost of 33 million euros, funded by the state of Upper Austria, the city of Linz, and public and private donors.

The museum is a cuboid building, measuring 130 meters in length and covering the entire competition area. The architects aimed to create a simple and minimalist structure, that would not compete with the surrounding landscape and buildings, but rather complement them. The main feature of the museum is the large opening in the middle of the building, known as the “Danube window”, which frames the view of the river and the opposite bank, where the Urfahr district and the Pöstlingberg hill are located. The opening also creates a sense of lightness and transparency, as the upper part of the building seems to float above the ground, supported by a cantilever bridge. The “Danube window” also serves as a metaphor for the museum’s function, as it allows the visitors to see the art inside the museum, as well as the city and the nature outside.

The exterior of the museum is clad with 1800 laminated safety glasses, which have the inscription art museum lentos repeated on them. The glass panels are either transparent or reflective, depending on the angle and the light, creating a dynamic and changing appearance of the museum. The glass facade also acts as a screen, on which different colors and patterns are projected at night, transforming the museum into a luminous sculpture. The colors are chosen according to the seasons, the events, or the exhibitions taking place in the museum.

The interior of the museum is divided into two levels, connected by a central staircase. The ground floor hosts the entrance hall, the reception, the museum shop, the café-restaurant, and the sculpture hall, which is part of the “Danube window”. The first floor contains the exhibition spaces, which are divided into four sections, each with a different size and shape. The exhibition spaces are designed to be flexible and adaptable, allowing for different arrangements and displays of the artworks. The museum also has a basement, which houses the storage, the restoration, and the technical facilities.

The Collection and the Exhibitions of the Museum

The Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz has a collection of around 1,500 works of painting, sculpture, and object art, as well as over 10,000 works on paper, dating from the 20th and 21st centuries. The collection is based on the legacy of the New Gallery, but it has been expanded and enriched over the years, with acquisitions, donations, and loans from other institutions and private collectors. The collection covers a wide range of artistic movements and styles, such as expressionism, surrealism, abstract art, pop art, conceptual art, minimalism, and postmodernism. Some of the artists represented in the collection are Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter, Maria Lassnig, VALIE EXPORT, Arnulf Rainer, and Erwin Wurm.

The museum’s mission is to present and communicate the essential ideas and perspectives of contemporary art production, in relation to the art history of the 20th century. The museum organizes temporary exhibitions, which showcase works and schools of contemporary art, as well as their implications and influences. The exhibitions are often thematic, interdisciplinary, or dialogical, exploring the connections between art and society, politics, culture, or science. The museum also hosts exhibitions of museum art from the 20th century, which provide a historical context and a background for the contemporary art. The museum also collaborates with other museums, galleries, and cultural institutions, both nationally and internationally, to exchange and share artworks and exhibitions.

The Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz is not only a place to see and appreciate art, but also a place to learn and experience art. The museum offers a variety of educational and cultural programs, such as guided tours, workshops, lectures, discussions, concerts, film screenings, and performances, for different audiences and age groups. The museum also has a library, which contains books, catalogues, magazines, and multimedia materials related to modern and contemporary art. The museum aims to be a lively and interactive space, where visitors can engage with art and with each other, and where art can inspire and challenge them.

Admission fee for the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz is as follows: