Albertina

Thursday, August 19

All I can say is wow!  This is a great museum.  When I walked in a first fell in love with the large white marble hall.  Then we ventured into the state rooms that reflected the use of the building’s original purpose as a palace.  The museum takes its name from Duke Albert of Saxony, who was married to Maria Theresa's favorite daughter Maria Christina.  Maria Christina was the only one of Maria Theresa’s sixteen children who was allowed to marry for love.  It is fitting that his residence is now an art museum as he was an avid art collector.  His collection along with others of the Habsburgs were combined when they came under the ownership of the Republic of Austria and are now on display in the Albertina.  

The states rooms were beautifully decorated with sumptuous fabrics.  In this lovely setting were breathtaking sketches of Michelangelo and Albrecht Durer.  I couldn’t believe how close I was to these.  I have always loved the sketches and careful detail of Durer, so this was definitely a dream experience.  Also featured in the state rooms were some of the works of Walton Ford, which I really love.  After the state rooms, we headed to the exhibit of Monet to Baselitz.  I really enjoyed the works of the impressionists but I did not enjoy the more modern works as much. I was pleasantly surprised and did enjoy a few pieces of the more recent modern art.  We also toured the exhibit of the photographs of Heinrich Kuhn, which were a new discovery for me and a favorite.  


The German word of the day:
"moglich"=possible