The city has numerous history, science, and art exhibitions on (or planned) at any one time. This list covers the major museums and venues. Click/tap to view by topic:
- Personal tips for the coming days
- Art history & art around 1900
- Modern and contemporary art
- Design & architecture
- Photography
- History, culture & current affairs
- Science, nature & music
A few notes:
- Most locations have permanent displays too, of course. So you’ll always find Klimt at the Belvedere and Leopold museums, for example
- Many also have small exhibitions and installations or those intended for local audiences, which I often won’t cover here
- Check the event listings for suggested exhibition highlights for each month of the year
- Exhibitions in Vienna almost always present information in at least English and German
My current top tips
(Gustav Klimt, Judith, 1901; press photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien)
Gustav Klimt – Pigment & Pixel
- Reveals his methods
- AI-enhanced reconstructions
- Gorgeous aesthetics
- Runs to Sept 7th, 2025
- At Lower Belvedere
Special mention(s)
- Leonardo – Dürer (until June 9th, 2025) at the Albertina: masterpiece drawings on coloured paper featuring the awe-inspiring genius of da Vinci, Dürer, Titian, Raphael, and others
- Anton Corbijn (until June 29th, 2025) at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien: 200 works across five decades of photography, with a focus on the often remarkable portraits of musicians and other creatives
- Controlled Freedom (until September 7th, 2025) at the Wien Museum: a fascinating look at Vienna immediately after WWII and the efforts of the Allies to reinvigorate cultural life
- Changing Times (until July 13th) at the Leopold Museum: the life and works of Egon Schiele across the final war-torn five years of his life
What art exhibitions are on?
Let us begin with…
Art history & art c. 1900
(The Kunsthistorisches Museum)
I review this section every one to two months, but do check locally and with official sites for any changes, particularly to the dates of future exhibitions.
Albertina
- Painting as a Last Resort: exploring parallels in the lives and works of the painters Matthew Wong and Vincent Van Gogh (February 14th to June 19th, 2025)
- Leonardo – Dürer: tracing the development of drawing as art in the context of master drawings on coloured paper. The two named artists feature prominently, of course (March 7th to June 9th, 2025)
- Travels. Artists on the Move: Masterful 18th and 19th century drawings and paintings inspired by travel (June 27th to August 24th, 2025)
- The Viennese Bohème: a potpourri of works by members of the Hagen Society, who laid some of the foundations for what would become Viennese Modernism (July 25th to October 12th, 2025)
- Gothic Modern: an intriguing exhibition that reflects the influence of late medieval art on modernist artists. Features such names as Munch, van Gogh and Kollwitz alongside works separated from them by centuries (September 19th, 2025 to January 11th, 2026)
- The Fascination of Paper: exploring the medium in terms of the art created with it, from Dürer drawings to modern sculptural works (December 12th, 2025 to March 8th, 2026)
Lower Belvedere
- World in Colors: highlights of Slovenian painting across a period stretching from the revolutionary year of 1848 to independence from Austria Hungary in 1918 (January 30th to May 25th, 2025)
- Gustav Klimt. Pigment & Pixel: digging a little deeper into Klimt’s world of colour to examine his methods. Includes a closer look at the techniques and materials used to create such paintings as The Kiss (February 20th, 2025 to September 7th, 2025)
- Cézanne, Monet, Renoir: highlights of French Impressionism drawn from the prestigious Villa Langmatt collection (September 25th, 2025 to February 8th, 2026)
- Franz Xaver Messerschmidt: an exhibition that promises to expand our understanding of the role, relevance and context of his famous character heads (October 31st, 2025 to April 6th, 2026)
Upper Belvedere
- Klimt’s The Bride: an in-depth look at this unfinished work, including its history, preliminary sketches, the results of technical analysis etc. Also explores the comings and goings in Klimt’s final studio (May 15th to October 5th, 2025)
Kunsthistorisches Museum
- Point of View exhibitions that typically focus on a single work and provide often intriguing background detail:
- The Princess of Naples and the art of Antonio Velázquez and Anton Mengs (January 17th to October 5th, 2025)
- Imperial Impressions: medals as art, featuring Habsburg acquisitions and the work of court medalists, who were often artists in their own right (February 13th, 2024 to October 26th, 2025)
- The Vitrine EXTRA series of small exhibitions of one or more artefacts from antiquity:
- Pitch black – colourful?: insights from research into the polychromy of Roman monuments in the Danubian provinces, illustrated by a Mithraic image (February 21st to August 31st, 2025)
- Texting in Antiquity (September 5th, 2025 to January 25th, 2026)
- Daniel Neuberger: exhibition around waxworks by this 17th-century artist (February 11th to June 9th, 2025)
- Arcimboldo – Bassano – Bruegel: the passing of the seasons and nature as portrayed by 16th-century artists (March 11th to June 29th, 2025)
- Pieter Claesz. Still Life: a small presentation around the 17th-century still-life painter (June 17th, 2025 to January 18th, 2026)
- Michaelina Wautier: exhibition around the Dutch Baroque artist and her contemporaries (September 30th, 2025 to February 22nd, 2026)
- Head and Shoulders. Coins in Fashion: no details at the time of writing but the title offers big clues about this planned coin exhibition (November 11th, 2025 to September 6th, 2026)
Heidi Horten Collection
- Experiment Expressionism: a cross-genre exhibition addressing expressionism in the context of paintings, sculptures, and paraphernalia around silent film (April 11th to August 31st, 2025)
- Vienna, Vienna, Only You: exhibition placing Stefan Oláh’s contemporary photos of Vienna opposite portrayals of the city by the 18th and 19th century artists Balthasar Wigand and Rudolf von Alt (April 30th to October 15th, 2025)
Leopold Museum
- Changing Times: explores the later years of Egon Schiele’s life, tracing the personal and artistic changes between 1914 and 1918. All illustrated by around 130 works (March 28th to July 13th, 2025)
- Biedermeier: an artistic meander through the Biedermeier era featuring the genres, media, styles and leading artists of the time (April 10th to July 27th, 2025)
- Hidden modernism: modernist art and artists within the context of wider spiritual philosophies and sociocultural changes either side of 1900 Vienna (September 4th, 2025 to January 18th, 2026)
Academy of Fine Arts
- Wild Apollo’s Arrows. Klopstock Cult & Ossian Fever: I am genuinely incapable of summarising this in one line. So I’m simply going to say eclectic and distinctly intriguing (March 7th to May 25th, 2025)
- Considering the collection: selected highlights from the paintings archive (March 7th to May 25th, 2025)
- Considering the collection: highlights from the in-house collection of paintings but with a special focus on works from Italy and France (June 7th to September 7th, 2025)
Dom Museum
- In the Spirit of Friendship: the concept as interpreted and explored in various artistic media both contemporary and (far) older (September 27th, 2024 to August 24th, 2025)
Modern & contemporary
(The Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien)
I review this section every one to two months, but do check locally and with official sites for any changes, particularly to the dates of future exhibitions.
Albertina
- Matthew Wong – Vincent Van Gogh: exploring parallels in the lives and works of the two painters (February 14th to June 19th, 2025)
- Jenny Saville: solo exhibition covering the last couple of decades of her figurative art alongside her newest works (March 21st to June 29, 2025)
- Light is What we See: retrospective for Brigitte Kowanz, known for her light-based contemporary art (July 18th to November 9th, 2025)
- Motherscapes: a representative selection of works by the Japanese-Swiss artist Leiko Ikemura (November 21st, 2025 to February 8th, 2026)
- The Fascination of Paper: wide-ranging exhibition around the art created using this medium, from medieval drawings to contemporary installations (December 12th, 2025 to March 8th, 2026)
Albertina Modern
- Remix. From Gerhard Richter to Katharina Grosse: a dive into various highlights from the Viehof Collection of contemporary avant-garde art (April 11th to September 14th, 2025)
- Damien Hirst: the first museal exhibition for the iconic artist’s drawings and sketches (May 7th to October 12th, 2025)
- KAWS: works by the US artist in dialogue with other contemporary artists like Katherine Bernhardt and Keith Haring (October 10th, 2025 to April 19th, 2026)
- Moving Images: double exhibition around two masters of optical illusion in art…Victor Vasarely and Marc Adrian (October 24th, 2025 to January 25th, 2026)
- …see also the seasonal exhibitions at the Albertina’s Klosterneuburg location just outside Vienna
Upper Belvedere
- DIABOLUS (PROTECTOR): Sarah Ortmeyer’s devilish sculptures take possession of the Carlone Hall (March 27th to October 19th, 2025)
Lower Belvedere
- Radical!: modernism with a difference, featuring only female artists from over 20 countries to bring new perspectives to the movement and the role of women within it (June 18th to October 12th, 2025)
Heidi Horten Collection
- Experiment Expressionism: a cross-genre exhibition with a focus on expressionism and drawing on paintings, sculptures, and paraphernalia around silent film (April 11th to August 31st, 2025)
- Vienna, Vienna, Only You: exhibition around the work of Balthasar Wigand, Rudolf von Alt, and Stefan Oláh in the context of portrayals of Vienna (April 30th to October 15th, 2025)
Leopold Museum
- Libelle+:Highlights the artistic background to the MQ Libelle viewing platform on the roof of the museum as well as the association with its two art installations by Brigitte Kowanz and Eva Schlegel (October 9th, 2025 to January 18th, 2026)
The MAK
- Blockchain Unchained – DAO & the Museum: visitors participate in an interactive story-driven experience that bridges the interface between real and virtual through augmented reality (November 20th, 2024 to August 17th, 2025)
- Renate Fuhry: solo exhibition featuring the artist’s ceramic works, drawn from the MAK collection and her own private archives (January 29th to May 11th, 2025)
- Water Pressure: art and contemporary installations also feature in this exploration of the socioculture of water and the future of water management (May 21st to September 7th, 2025)
- Johann Strauss: Frantic Ecstasy: expressionist dance of the early 1900s, as revealed in posters advertising relevant performances. Free dance evolved out of the waltz through interpretation and transition (June 17th to November 2nd, 2025)
- Hito Steyerl: solo exhibition for the Berlin-based artist with multimedia and video installations that dig deeper into modern (pop) culture (June 25th, 2025 to January 11th, 2026)
- Valentina Triet and Josef Dabernig: successive video exhibitions by Triet (July 8th to October 13th, 2025) and Dabernig (October 15th, 2025 to March 22nd, 2026) around fashion and fitness: the human body as a surface for projection
- Turning Pages: books as a medium of visual, textual, material and digital art (October 1st, 2025 to March 22nd, 2026)
- 100 Best Posters: the winners from the next iteration of this competition around artistic poster design in the DACH region (November 12th, 2025 to April 12th, 2026)
Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien
- Marina Abramović: a wide-ranging review of the artist’s work with reenactments of her seminal performance art (October 2nd, 2025 to January 18th, 2026)
Kunst Haus Wien
- Antimatter Factory: solo exhibition for Mika Rottenberg (February 27th to August 10th, 2025)
- Greenwashing Vienna (my translation): works by art students in the context of urban sustainability and the history of the local area (June 14th to September 28th, 2025)
- Julius von Bismarck: cross-media solo exhibition for the German artist (September 10th, 2025 to March 8th, 2026)
- Fuzzy Earth: art & design installation(s) among a look at the thematic interrelationships around the history, mining, use and impact of phosphorus (October 16th, 2025 to January 25th, 2026)
MUMOK
- Mapping the 60s: a conceptual retrospective that focuses on a decade that brought forth and/or influences many of today’s artistic and sociocultural movements (July 5th, 2024 to May 10th, 2026)
- Arise Alive: solo exhibition for Liliane Lijn (November 15th, 2024 to May 4th, 2025)
- Park McArthur: solo exhibition for the US artist drawing on works from the 2010s and 2020s (March 15th to September 7th, 2025)
- Never Final! (my translation): quasi a retrospective for the museum and its collection with a focus on developments and art in the 1980s (March 28th, 2025 to April 12th, 2026)
- The World of Tomorrow Will Have Been Another Present: another collection-oriented exhibition which juxtaposes large contemporary installations with classical modernist works (May 23rd, 2025 to April 6th, 2026)
- Kazuna Taguchi: a first solo museal exhibition for the Tokyo-born but Vienna-based artist (June 13th to November 16th, 2025)
- Tobias Pils: paintings and drawings by this Austrian artist (September 27th, 2025 to April 12th, 2026)
- Claudia Pagès Rabal: commissioned video art in collaboration with London’s Chisenhale Gallery (December 4th, 2025 to May 31st, 2026)
Wien Museum musa
- Viennese Realism after 1950: exhibition around the realist counter movement featuring such names as Eisler, Escher, Hrdlicka, Martinz, Schönwald and Schwaiger (March 20th to August 17th, 2025)
- Works in Public Space: mid-career retrospective for Leopold Kessler, known for his playful public installations (September 11th, 2025 to January 25th, 2026)
The Kunsthalle
All at the MuseumsQuartier site unless marked as the Karlsplatz site.
- Nora Turato: long text-based work on the outside of the Kunsthalle (September 5th, 2024 to September 14th, 2025)
- Radical Software: Women, Art & Computing 1960–1991: group exhibition examining part of the history of artistic experimentation with a focus on works by women artists pre-Internet (February 28th to May 25th, 2025)
- Ibrahim Mahama: solo exhibition with new works by the Ghanaian artist (June 27th to November 2nd, 2025)
- Nicola L.: retrospective made possible through international cooperation with institutions in the UK, France and Italy (June 27th to September 14th, 2025)
- Guan Xiao: solo exhibition that includes a new series of sculpture (October 8th, 2025 to January 6th, 2026)
- Kunsthalle Wien Prize 2025 (Karlsplatz): works by the award winners (November 7th, 2025 to January 6th, 2026)
- Richard Hawkins: solo exhibition with new works in dialogue with those from the artist’s past (November 27th, 2025 to April 5th, 2026)
Belvedere 21
- Hans Haacke: retrospective for the US-German artist (March 1st to June 9th, 2025)
- Jonathan Monk: solo exhibition for the British artist (May 23rd to September 21st, 2025)
- Wotruba international: exhibition around the famous Austrian artist Fritz Wotruba seen through the lens of his international activities, reception and influence on post-WWII sculpture (July 17th, 2025 to January 11th, 2026)
- Ashley Hans Scheirl: retrospective covering their diverse output from films of the 70s to contemporary works (September 19th, 2025 to January 18th, 2026)
- CIVA: exhibition in the context of the Festival of Contemporary Immersive Virtual Art (October 2nd, 2025 to February 22nd, 2026)
Academy of Fine Arts
- Wild Apollo’s Arrows. Klopstock Cult Ossian Fever: I’ve written many one-line summaries based on press info and website text but this one is beyond my capabilities. But it sounds remarkably intriguing (March 7th to May 25th, 2025)
Künstlerhaus
- Imagine Climate Dignity: various works that address the idea of dignity in its widest sense to include nature and all sentient beings. All within the context of climate change (March 1st to June 9th, 2025)
- Imagining Piece: works of imagination in a multifaceted sense (June 26th to October 5th, 2025)
- You Should Create an Image (my translation): contemporary art reflecting the imaginative power of religious experiences (October 25th, 2025 to February 8th, 2026)
MQ Freiraum
- all this: solo exhibition covering 70 years of art by the Dutch artist herman de vries (March 19th to August 10th, 2025)
- Anatomy of an Endless Scene: solo exhibition for Syrian artist Huda Takriti (March 19th to August 10th, 2025)
Weltmuseum Wien
- Dark Pairing: Wie-yi T. Lauw’s screen images offer a metaphor that invites critical examination of colonialism (since May 20th, 2021)
- Calabash Nebula: Cosmological Tales of Connection: solo exhibition for the artist, activist and healer Tabita Rezaire (September 17th, 2025 to January 11th, 2026)
- The Colours of the Earth: natural dyes and modern textile art from Mexico (October 22nd, 2025 to April 6th, 2026)
- The Ultimate Breath: solo exhibition by Indah Arsyad (November 26th, 2025 to May 25th, 2026)
Dom Museum
- In the Spirit of Friendship: the concept as interpreted and explored in various artistic media both contemporary and (far) older (September 27th, 2024 to August 24th, 2025)
Theseus Temple
- Washerwoman: mixed media sculptural installation by Shannon Alonzo (May 16th to October 5th, 2025)
Design & architecture
(The MAK)
I review this section every one to two months, but do check locally and with official sites for any changes, particularly to the dates of future exhibitions.
The MAK
- Aut Now: exhibition illustrating the best of Austrian design from the 21st century across various fields (September 18th, 2024 to May 18th, 2025)
- Peche Pop: major exhibition on the work and enduring impact of Dagobert Peche, who took design in intriguing, unexpected, and quixotic directions (December 11th, 2024 to May 11th, 2025)
- Powerful Patterns: Meisen kimonos and haoris from the first five decades of the 20th century (March 12th to August 24th, 2025)
- Typomania: typography in Austrian poster art with examples ranging from their first true introduction around the time of the Secession through to contemporary designs (March 25th to June 15th, 2025)
- Water Pressure: cross-genre exhibition exploring sociocultural aspects of water along with its future management as a critical resource. Includes objects from the museum design collection (May 21st to September 7th, 2025)
- Eligius Award 2025: works by nominees for this triannual award covering body jewelry and jewelry objects (May 28th to June 29th, 2025)
- Dressed Up: a nice seasonal exhibition showcasing Christmas tree decorations from the 1920s to 1980s (September 24th, 2025 to February 1st, 2026)
- Helmut Lang: major exhibition covering 1986-2005 and exploring his groundbreaking influence on design and identity, with a focus on installations and original archival materials rather than traditional garment displays (December 10th, 2025 to May 3rd, 2026)
Wien Museum
- Reinforced Concrete: a peek behind the façade of Vienna’s lovely historical buildings from around 1900. A new material technology changed the way you could build, with huge impacts for the design and functionality of architecture (May 22nd to September 28th, 2025)
- Knowledge for All: all about the development, spread and current role of the specific pictorial Isotype approach to information communication developed in 1920s Vienna (November 6th, 2025 to April 5th, 2026)
Vienna Furniture Museum
- Japanese Porcelain at the Imperial Court in Vienna: small exhibition with display cases featuring some lovely examples of “white gold” (February 28th to August 31st, 2025)
- Josef Frank and the Others: showcases the furniture designs of the 1920-1940 era (April 9th, 2025 to January 11th, 2026)
Architekturzentrum Wien
- Suburbia: the history of an approach to housing and a lifestyle that has spread from the US to the rest of the world (March 6th to August 4th, 2025)
- Abundance, Not Capital: the work of Anupama Kundoo, whose architectural designs take a different approach, combining goals traditionally though of as mutually exclusive and rejecting over-use of resources (September 11th, 2025 to February 16th, 2026)
Ringturm
- Modernism in Krakow: examines the architecture of the city, particularly across two modernist phases…1919 to 1939 and 1989 to the current day (April 8th to June 20th, 2025)
Photography
(Westlicht)
I review this section every one to two months, but do check locally and with official sites for any changes, particularly to the dates of future exhibitions.
Albertina
- Francesca Woodman: solo exhibition for the US-Italian photographer drawing on works in the SAMMLUNG VERBUND (April 4th to July 6th, 2025)
- Jitka Hanzlová: solo exhibition featuring ten significant series by the renowned photographer (July 11th to November 2nd, 2025)
- Lisette Model: retrospective for the influential Austrian photographer (October 31st, 2025 to February 22nd, 2026)
Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien
- Anton Corbijn: focus on his portraits from across the artistic spectrum…from music to movies, art to fashion and literature (February 15th to June 29th, 2025)
National Library
- A Century in Pictures: 100 years of Austrian history told through the medium of photography (March 13th to November 2nd, 2025)
Foto Arsenal Wien
- Magnum. A World of Photography: a kind of case study of the famous agency exploring the distribution and archiving of photographs (March 22nd to June 1st, 2025)
- Simon Lehner: solo exhibition for this young photographer (March 22nd to June 1st, 2025)
Jewish Museum
- Where have all the flowers gone?: explores the aftermath of World War II across the 80 years since its end through the photos of Roger Cremers (May 8th, 2025 to January 18th, 2026)
Belvedere 21
- Maria Hahnenkamp: solo exhibition for the contemporary Austrian artist best known for her photographic work (March 21st to August 31st, 2025)
Westlicht
- All Tomorrow’s Parties: featuring photos, pages, covers etc. from twen magazine, which spoke to a new generation in 1960s Germany and influenced magazine design and photography far beyond the country’s borders (March 15th to May 18th, 2025)
Other exhibitions
History, culture & current affairs
(The Jewish Museum main site)
I review this section every one to two months, but do check locally and with official sites for any changes, particularly to the dates of future exhibitions.
Wien Museum
- Controlled Freedom: on the influx of international culture that followed WWII through the occupying allied forces and how this shaped the growth of a distinct Austrian cultural landscape (April 10th to September 7th, 2025)
- Meat: an examination and sociocultural peek at meat and Vienna through the centuries and into the future (October 2nd, 2025 to February 22nd, 2026)
MAK
- Girl Meets Manga: explores how these Japanese comics have influenced female identity and interrelate with issues faced by their readers. Draws particularly on the experience of MAK curator Mio Wakita-Elis (April 2nd to August 17th, 2025)
Wagenburg
- Victoria!: a small presentation around the rediscovery and restoration of the open-top carriage favoured by Emperor Franz Joseph toward the end of his life (October 24th, 2024 to July 6th, 2025)
Weltmuseum
- The European Qurʾan: European perspectives on the Islamic scriptures and the latter’s role in lives on the continent (September 18th, 2024 to August 24th, 2025)
- Who’s Wearing the Pants?: a wide look at the socioculture of the trousers through history (March 25th, 2025 to February 1st, 2026)
- Colonialism on the Window Sill: the exhibition uses ten of the most popular plants for the home and balcony to explore the colonial past and highlight aspects of colonialism’s ongoing legacy and impact (May 28th, 2025 to May 25th, 2026)
Jewish Museum
- Angst (“fear”): the emotion in its various historical and contemporary dimensions, as well as views of the Jewish sense of the word (November 6th, 2024 to April 27th, 2025)
- G*d: various artistic, religious, and scientific perspectives on the idea of God (April 2nd to October 5th, 2025)
- Black Jews, White Jews?: explores issues around the skin colour of Jewish people, especially the experience of Jews of colour (October 22nd, 2025 to April 26th, 2026)
Literature Museum
- Where We Come From: the title as theme featuring, for example, personal items that link writers with their past or literature’s treatment of such items (April 24th, 2025 to February 15th, 2026)
Marx Halle
- The Legend of the Titanic: immersive exhibition (from October 1st, 2025)
Papyrus Museum
- Divine and Eaten: the often ambivalent or paradoxical relationship between animals and people in ancient Egypt, as illustrated within documents of the time (June 13th, 2024 to May 4th, 2025)
- The Power of Words: multilingualism and bilingualism in ancient Egypt and how this ties in to sociocultural development (June 12th, 2025 to May 3rd, 2026)
Science, nature & music
(Home to a science and technology museum)
I review this section every one to two months, but do check locally and with official sites for any changes, particularly to the dates of future exhibitions.
MAK
- Water Pressure: part art, part design, part science…the future of water resource management and its cultural significance, enhanced with objects from the museum collection and contemporary art installations (May 21st to September 7th, 2025)
Naturhistorisches Museum
- It’s Not Just the Ravages of Time: small travelling exhibition on museum pests and their control, as well as the influence of climate change in that context (March 19th, 2025 to June 15th, 2025)
Technisches Museum
- Cash. The Value of Money: the evolution of payments and the mechanics (with various meanings of the word) of the cash ecosystem, as well as various aspects of cash itself, from symbolism to sensory impressions (April 24th, 2024 to August, 2025)
- 100 Years of Radio in Austria: the role of radio and its technological development in Austria from the early days through to the 2020s (October 6th, 2024 to September 2nd, 2025)
Kunst Haus Wien
- Plastic Matters: highlighting alternative uses for waste plastic other than in recycling (February 27th to May 25th, 2025)
Sigmund Freud Museum
- Analysis Interminable: introduces five contemporary psychoanalytical schools (December 14th, 2024 to September 22nd, 2025)
Theatermuseum
- Johann Strauss: dedicated to the life and works of the composer (December 4th, 2024 to August 17th, 2025)
Mozarthaus Vienna
- Mozart at Table: explores Mozart’s dining habits and experiences and their relationship to his life and work (May 24th, 2024 to January 11th, 2026)