Travels exhibition

The Albertina’s Travels exhibition takes you on a journey through scenic vistas of the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Watercolours and drawings
• A journey through beauty
• Over 130 works
• …many never seen before in public
• Look for the Alt landscapes
• Runs Jun 27 – Aug 24
• Book Albertina tickets*
• See also:
  • Albertina museum overview
  • Art exhibitions in Vienna

Artists on the move

(Rudolf von Alt, The Dachstein in the Salzkammergut as seen from the Vorderer Gosausee, 1840, 42×52.5 cm, watercolor on paper, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna)

We may find inspiration in books…seeing life through different eyes. Or perhaps in music…driven to tears by a voice. Or, of course, in art…captivated by a few strokes of a paintbrush.

And where do writers, musicians, and artists draw their inspiration?

Well, Leonard Cohen once said:

If I knew where the good songs came from I’d go there more often

But one time-honoured source has always been travel: expanding your horizons both literally and figuratively. Which brings me nicely to the Travels. Artists on the Move exhibition at the Albertina.

The exhibition dips into the museum’s extensive collections to showcase paintings and drawings from 18th and 19th century travels by renowned artists of the time.

These works take us on two journeys.

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lakescape, 1787, 19.5x31cm, brush on paper, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna. Permanent loan of Österreichische Goethe-Gesellschaft © Photo: The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna)

One is travel by proxy, since the pictured subjects are scenes captured by the artist while on the road for study, a sponsor or self-fulfillment.

So we journey to Paris and Pisa, to Rome and the Rhein, to the Austrian lakes and the Swiss mountains, to sun-drenched Italian farmscapes, the sands of Egypt, and beyond.

All of which offer an antidote to today’s cluttered always-on society, where nature slowly disappears beneath the weight of humanity’s touch. Consider it a wander through the past, albeit where travel involved far more than a phone, Google Maps and PayPal.

The second journey is a more cerebral one: a trip through the various styles, approaches, motifs and motivations of different artists of timeless skill and talent.

No such exhibition, for example, can do without watercolours by Jakob Alt (1789 – 1872) and his son Rudolf von Alt (1812 – 1905), often drawn at the behest of the Austrian emperor. Rudolf produced outstanding landscapes and cityscapes at a rate that borders on the inconceivable.

(The Alt family actually had their own exhibition at the Albertina back in 2022/2023.)

(Christian Georg Schütz, Ehrenbreitstein on the Rhine with the fortress, opposite Koblenz, before 1801, 42.7×55.8 cm, pen, chalk and watercolor on paper, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © Photo: The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna)

Other notable names include:

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832): probably Germany’s greatest ever writer and one of those annoyingly multitalented people. He drew what he saw, for example, while travelling through Italy in the 1780s, and we see several of those drawings

• Thomas Ender (1793 – 1875): a painter who counted Prince Metternich and Archduke Johann of Austria among his sponsors. The exhibition also has his sketchbook from an Italian trip accompanying the prince

• Tina Blau (1845 – 1916): one of the rare female artists who were able to establish themselves in an era where art was largely a male domain. We see her sketchbook, too

• Josef Selleny (1824 – 1875): a student of Ender who enjoyed the patronage of the imperial family. He was also the landscape architect behind Vienna’s Stadtpark. His 1858 painting of Singapore is quite fascinating given today’s metropolis

And be careful as you go around…you might find yourself struck by the desire to buy a mobile easel and set off on a slow journey down to Florence.

Dates, tickets & tips

Enjoy travels through the 18th and 19th century from June 27th to August 24th, 2025. An entrance ticket from or for the Albertina includes the exhibition.

Historical landscapes and cityscapes appear in the permanent exhibitions of several museums in Vienna. Consider, for example:

• Upper Belvedere’s baroque, neoclassicism & biedermeier section within the broader Schau! / Picture this! exhibition

• The Kunsthistorisches Museum’s picture galleries

• The Wien Museum’s permanent exhibition on Karlsplatz (with views and models of historical Vienna)

How to get there

The Albertina is right in the centre and next to the state opera house and Hofburg palace complex. See the travel tips at the bottom of my museum overview.

Address: Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Vienna