An artistic relationship that spans the ages. The Albertina’s Painting as a Last Resort exhibition showcases the work of Matthew Wong in the context of one of his greatest influences.
- Paintings, plus works on paper
- Juxtaposed with selected van Gogh works
- Runs Feb 14 – Jun 19, 2025
- Book Albertina tickets*
- See also:
Painting as a Last Resort
(Matthew Wong, The Space Between Trees, 2019, 60 × 50 cm, oil on canvas, collection of Judith and Danny Tobey © 2025 Matthew Wong Foundation / Bildrecht Vienna, 2025)
In his novel, Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett wrote:
No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away…
Great artists send giant waves that show no sign of losing their power. And, in turn, these may inspire others to create their own ripples.
Take Vincent van Gogh, for example, who proved a significant artistic inspiration for the acclaimed Chinese-Canadian artist Matthew Wong (1984-2019).
Painting as a Last Resort at the Albertina turns that relationship into exhibition form in a cooperation with Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, Kunsthaus Zürich, and the Matthew Wong Foundation.
The exhibition juxtaposes Wong’s art with selected works by the Dutch painter: van Gogh’s influence on the former shines through in, for example, the themes, motifs, colours and brushstrokes.
But Painting as a Last Resort also reflects how the parallels between the two artists go beyond stylistic influences into their own characters: a parallel Wong himself noted. Both faced mental health challenges, for example. Both also died far too early.
(Vincent van Gogh, Field with Irises near Arles, 1888, 55 × 65 cm, oil on canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam / Vincent van Gogh Foundation © Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam / Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
We can mourn and wonder what might have been had either artist lived longer. But an exhibition such as this at least allows us to appreciate their gifts and the works they did create.
Wong’s paintings often seem to stand in the centre of an artistic Venn diagram, producing something unique from a combination of influences and internal imaginations. Proof we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but we can always reshape it.
Striking in their use of colours (albeit with some monochrome pieces) and often eminently recognisable, the works carry a hint of the uncanny, the other worldly, the melancholic (notably through the small, lone figure that often appears in a landscape).
One such figure sits on a throne in a glade in 2017’s The Kingdom, for example. However, the birch forest portrayed is ripped through with glorious dabs of colour, adding a bright, dare I say optimistic, touch to the painting and exhibition.
And all you see is made more impressive by the fact that Wong was self-taught and only began drawing/painting aged 27. His own ripples of influence will surely continue to paint patterns across the art world far into the future.
Dates, tickets & tips
Enjoy Wong’s art and the juxtapositions with those of van Gogh between February 14th and June 19th, 2025. An entrance ticket for or from the Albertina includes the exhibitions within.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
You’ll also find van Gogh-inspired works (and one of his paintings) in Lower Belvedere’s World in Colors exhibition of Slovenian painting between 1848 and 1918. It runs for some of the same period as the Wong exhibition.
Be sure to check the other special exhibitions at the Albertina. The big spring exhibition, for example,, has renaissance drawings by the likes of Dürer and da Vinci.
How to get to the art
The museum lies centrally, just opposite the state opera house and alongside one edge of the Hofburg palace complex. Just follow the travel tips in the main Albertina article.
Address: Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Vienna