Collections

The works of this collection were created mainly in the territories of Austria, Styria and neighbouring countries (today’s Slovenia and South Tyrol, for example). Since the 19th century the number of objects has grown steadily, with the bequests of Joseph August Stark, Count Ignaz Attems and Baron Sessler-Herzinger well worth mentioning alongside donations from various parishes and deans. Valuable holdings from Admont and St. Lambrecht abbeys were added during the years of the Great Depression in the 1920s and 1930s.

Special mention should be made of the AdmontMadonna, a major sculpture of the high Gothic period, second to none in Europe. In terms of their European standing, the Votive panel or the Bearing of the Cross from St.Lambrecht also represent the impact of the “International Gothic” style in Styria. Among the major works of the late Gothic period one should also mention the panels by Michael Pacher as well as those emanating from the circle of Friedrich Pacher and Marx Reichlich. The growing influence of the Renaissance on the development of local art is demonstrated by the monumental LargeMiracle Altar of Mariazell and the panel of St. Martin from Bruck an der Mur, after which the unknown master is named.

Furthermore, there is a considerable collection of high and late Gothic stained glass works from local churches (in the villages of Pichl bei Tragöß, Straßengel and Gratwein). Regionally significant testimonies of Gothic murals round off the picture of a complex medieval cultural heritage.

The panorama of post-medieval Flemish painting in its unique diversity of genres is defined by leading Antwerp masters such as Herri met de Bles, Frans Floris, Jacques de Backer, Marten de Vos, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Gillis III van Coninxloo, Joos de Momper the Younger and David Teniers the Younger right through to the successors to Rubens with Cornelis de Vos and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger at their head. One can therefore trace the basic route of artistic development north of the Alps from the Renaissance to the Baroque in this way. International late Mannerism in the Habsburg residences at Prague and Brussels is represented by the principal works of Bartholomäus Spranger, Giambologna and Hendrick de Clerck. In addition, there are works by southern German representatives of the early Baroque period such as Hans Rottenhammer, Johann König and Johann Heiss.

A special position is accorded to the Venetian-trained Lombard Giovanni Pietro de Pomis, who was a leading painter and architect at the court of Inner Austria in Graz around 1600. The Italian Baroque is presented in works by Domenico Fetti, Pietro della Vecchia, Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena.

Numerous paintings and oil sketches (bozzetti) by painters from southern Germany and the old Habsburg crown lands enable visitors to experience the wide range of 17th and 18th century art in Central Europe. They include works by Johann Heinrich Schönfeld, Johann Michael Rottmayr, Paul Troger, Franz Anton Maulbertsch, Norbert Grund, Johann Georg Platzer, Franz Christoph Janneck as well as the highly significant oeuvre of Martin Johann Schmidt, who was known as Kremser Schmidt. Sculptures by Josef Stammel, Philipp Jakob Straub and Veit Königer convey a vivid picture of late Baroque sacral sculpture in Styria.

The Graphic collection was founded in 1901 as an independent department of the Landesmuseum Joanneum which itself had been established in 1811. In 1941, the Graphic Collection was divided up among the departments of the Alte and Neue Galerie. Today, the Graphic collection at the Alte Galerie consists of almost 15,000 works. It contains drawings and prints from the period ranging from 1500 to the end of the 18th century.

The print collection features internationally renowned names such as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden, Jacques Callot, Stefano della Bella, Rembrandt van Rijn, Daniel Chodowiecki and Richard Earlom, etc. It also includes many works by Styrian artists. Temporally, the focus is on the 18th century. Alongside Vienna, Graz played an important role in graphics production, especially during the Counter-Reformation period.

The collection of drawings is fewer in number (slightly more than 400). It is characterised by a preponderance of works created by Austrian and Southern German Baroque artists. Famous names such as Franz Anton Maulbertsch, Paul Troger, Martin Johann Schmidt, known as Kremser Schmidt, Daniel Gran and others should be mentioned in this regard. Here, too, the focus is on artists working in Styria such as Giovanni Pietro de Pomis and Hans Adam Weißenkircher. Works by Hans Rottenhammer, Franz Xaver Palko, Januarius Zick and Thomas Christian Winck represent the German school. Moreover, the small collection also features drawings by artists from the Netherlands (Abraham Bloemaert, Peter Candid), France (François Verdier, Charles Louis Clerisseau) and Italy (FraBartolommeo, Bartolomeo Cesi).

The holdings of the Graphic collection can be viewed by prior appointment.

Since 2019, the permanent collection in the Alte Galerie has been complemented by a separate small graphics room which presents two to three themes of the gallery each year.