Schiele meets Nosferatu. Not an intriguing encounter down a coffee house, but the equally intriguing Experiment Expressionism exhibition at the Heidi Horten Collection.
- Expressionism in art, film & photo
- Focus on early 1900s
- Features artists like Schiele & Kokoschka
- Look for the rare Metropolis poster
- Runs Apr 11 – Aug 31, 2025
- Book entrance tickets* to the Collection
- See also:
Schiele meets Nosferatu
(Egon Schiele, Selbstbildnis mit Pfauenweste, 1911 © Ernst Ploil, Vienna)
Its own name stands as a badge of honour for an art movement. At least until the counter-revolution starts.
At the birth of the modern world (and, sadly, modern warfare) in the early 1900s, numerous artists set out on the path that would lead to expressionism as an established concept: painting as an expression of feelings, emotions and psychological states, with bold colours and subjective or distorted representations.
Such an approach found form off the canvas, too, as the Experiment Expressionism exhibition at the Heidi Horten Collection reveals.
The exhibition builds a dialogue between Austrian and German expressionist art but also between the paintings, film and photography that shared the exploratory expressionist aesthetic.
(Exhibition view; photo: Ouriel Morgensztern)
On the painting side, we have works from numerous artists, including names of such promise as Schiele, Kokoschka, Gerstl, Kirchner, Nolde, Chagall, and Koller-Pinell.
Then we have the parallels with photos and films.
Photography and, particularly, cinema took the expressionist baton from the artists and ran with it, giving us such classics as 1922’s Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror or 1924’s The Hands of Orlac.
We see these parallels in, for example:
- The abiding images of twisted hands in both films mentioned above: a motif common in gestural expressionist paintings and just about every portrait I’ve ever seen by Egon Schiele
- The stylistic use of light, shadow and distortion
- The split personality within the 1920 movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which mirrors the expressionist approach seen in portraits by Nolde, Pechstein and Jawlensky and the tension between who we are and who we wish to project
(Heinz Schulz-Neudamm, Poster for Metropolis, 1926 © ÖNB/Wien, PLA16301956)
These and other expressionist themes provide the context for the exploration of a key era in art history that continues to send ripples through to today. 2024, for example, saw the release of Nosferatu, a remake of (and homage) to the original.
The film parts to the exhibition come in the form of stills, clips, posters, and even occasional full-length showings. And Experiment Expressionism actually includes possibly the most valuable movie poster in the world…for Fritz Lang’s legendary 1926 Metropolis.
On loan from Austria’s National Library, only three other original copies in this format are said to still exist. One is allegedly owned by Leonardo di Caprio.
I’ll add more details for the exhibition when I’ve had a chance to visit.
Dates, tickets & tips
Plunge into the world of experimental expressionism from April 11th to August 31st, 2025. An entrance ticket for or from the Heidi Horten Collection includes all exhibitions within.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
Many of the artists featured also appear in the Leopold Museum’s permanent Vienna 1900 exhibition. I can also recommend the Changing Times special exhibition there, which explores Schiele’s biography and artistic journey from 1914 until his untimely death in 1918.
How to get there
The Heidi Horten Collection is very central, right on the edge of the Hofburg complex that dominates tourist walks and tours. See the main museum overview for travel tips.
Address: Hanuschgasse 3, 1010 Vienna