The Albertina Museum: Director's Choice

The largest of the Hapsburg residential palaces, The Albertina in Vienna provides a stunning home to one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world. Named after its founder, passionate art collector Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (1738-1822), the priceless collection comprises 50,000 drawings and watercolours and some 900,000 prints ranging from the late Gothic period to contemporary art. Here visitors can see world-famous works by da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael as well as Durer, Rubens, Rembrandt and Cezanne. The modern collection contains a vibrant array of works from a diverse range of artists: from Schiele, Klimt, Picasso and Pollock to Warhol, Katz, Baselitz and Kiefer. An extraordinary treasure trove of visual knowledge, The Albertina has also been gathering photographs since the mid-19th century, and holds around 50,000 plans, sketches and models in its Architecture Collection. This small volume showcases the highlights from this vast collection, as chosen by its Director.

Klaus Albrecht Schroder has been Director of The Albertina Museum in Vienna since 2000. After studying art history and history at the University of Vienna he was Director of the Kunstforum Vienna (1988-2000) and Member of the Executive Board, and Financial Manager of the Privatstiftung Leopold (1996-2000).