Think you know modernist art? The Radical! exhibition at Lower Belvedere invites us to think again.
- Reminder of the diversity of art & artists
- Focus on women creatives
- Full of “forgotten” treasures
- A welcome eye opener
- Runs Jun 18 – Oct 12, 2025
- Book Lower Belvedere tickets*
- See also:
Women artists & modernism 1910-1950
(Milada Marešová, Bride with a Cigarette, 1933; Martina Pachmanová; photo: Jakub Precechtel / National Gallery Prague © Zlata Marešová)
Life is full of misconceptions and false beliefs. As a trip down social media will quickly reveal.
Art is no different.
Our (unfortunate) common perception of modernism, when artists threw of the shackles of tradition, is of a movement driven by men working in a handful of self-contained genres in a few western countries.
The Radical! exhibition at Lower Belvedere challenges that understanding.
First, by featuring important modernist artists who don’t match the assumed demographics. Which means we experience 60+ different creative voices from over 20 countries: mainly women but also other gender identities.
(Abstract works within the Radical! exhibition; press photo © Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien)
Second, by revealing that artists created as individuals and not as constrained representatives of a particular style. Art full of experimentation, often swimming against the current: both artistically and in terms of the hurdles placed in their way by a conservative society.
Think of it all as unlocking a room full of treasures previously discarded for not complying with a prevailing narrative…a dip into some excellent art that may even have been valued at the time but which fell victim to the whims and gatekeeping of art history.
And enjoy an introduction to some excellent (women) artists, of whom only a few – like Käthe Kollwitz or Hannah Höch – survived those whims and gatekeepers.
Paintings are plentiful, but also prints & drawings, photos, textile art, sculptures, and more. The first room alone features almost all on that list as an immediate testament to the diversity within the exhibition.
(Elizabeth Catlett, I Have Special Reservations…, from the series The Black Woman, 1946 (1989); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia © Bildrecht, Vienna 2025)
Various themes colour Radical!, most notably:
- Art as experiment: works that explore new visual experiences. We discover, for example, female pioneers of abstract art
- Art as an act of emancipation and political & sociocritical protest that both documents change and seeks to effect it…not just concerning gender issues but also poverty, war, anti-semitism, inequality and similar
Female artists challenged social norms and stereotypes, pushing back against restrictive structures to pursue equality and diversity. Sadly, much of what they pushed back against still remains an issue today, such as visibility of queer identities or bodily autonomy.
Various life drawings feature: it’s hard to believe today, but society long frowned on the idea of women drawing naked bodies. By doing so, female artists redefined the artist-model relationship and reclaimed the female body from the male gaze.
(Fahrelnissa Zeid, Untitled (Composition), c. 1949; Taimur Hassan Collection; photo: Justin Piperger © Raad Zeid Al-Hussein)
And expect some genuine surprises.
For example, Marlow Moss’s geometric work looks heavily influenced by Mondrian. And then you check the date (it predates Mondrian and throws what you thought you knew about his pioneering efforts into a new light).
Radical! left me a little ashamed at my ignorance of many of the artists featured and the actual diversity within modernism. But it also left me invigorated by that very diversity.
And I developed a strong admiration for the perseverance of the artists in challenging environments. Some works might be considered courageous today, yet were created in far worse sociopolitical conditions.
(The exhibition stems from a cooperation between Belvedere, the Saarland Museum and the project initiators: Museum Arnhem.)
Dates, tickets & tips
Explore different facets of modernism from June 18th to October 12th, 2025. An entrance ticket for or from Lower Belvedere includes the exhibitions within.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
Fortunately, art has become more open with time, as a glance at contemporary exhibition listings soon demonstrates.
But the modernists were by no means the first to kick back against gatekeeping. See, for example, the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s year-end exhibition on baroque artist Michaelina Wautier (from September 30th, 2025).
How to get there
See directions for Lower Belvedere, but the location lies close to the very centre of Vienna. A hot tip is to take the 71 tram that travels around the west side of the old town and get off at the Lower Belvedere stop.
Address: Rennweg 6, 1030 Vienna