Visual Arts 1800 Until Today

Initially, only the sparse remnants of the baroque princely collections were available. However, in the following decades, the collections grew significantly – fueled by the generosity of the citizenry, who contributed numerous family portraits and many rescued medieval treasures. Since the post-war period, this modest scope of activity has been expanded through targeted acquisitions of top-quality works: major figures such as Makart and Faistauer, accompanied by artists like Ethofer and Schider, Harta and Jung, Schulz and Peiffer Watenphul – who represent Salzburg’s art of the mid-to-late nineteenth century (Gründerzeit) and Classical Modernism – found their way into the museum’s collection.

The absence of significant private collections and major benefactors had a negative impact on Salzburg Museum. The divestiture of inherited Salzburg art possessions after 1800 meant that little entered into museum ownership from this source, but rather through repurchases in recent times. This is why the bourgeois nineteenth century dominates over other eras in the holdings, with local luminaries in the vanguard, such as Pezolt, Stief, Fischbach, and Mayburger. What was neglected in terms of acquisitions during the lifetime of the ‘painter prince’ Hans Makart has, in recent years, been compensated for – just as gaps in collecting works from the remarkable 1919 initiative of the artists’ group ‘Der Wassermann’ have now been addressed. Fortunately, the underrepresentation of artworks by female artists has also been at least partially remedied in recent times.

The sculpture collection is not intended to be a collection of masterpieces, but rather a documentation of sculptural works from the city and province of Salzburg. The range extends from miniature portraits in plaster and wax to large-scale sculptures in public spaces.

In an institute oriented on cultural history, the focus is directed more on the wide range of the collections rather than an elite artistic standard. As ever, the topographical, locally relevant aspect is an important criterion. Because of the considerable gaps in the holdings, attention is concentrated on making up for missing aspects; however, contemporary art production is included as far as possible. It is encouraging to see that federal gallery funding supports both young galleries and emerging artists.

Thanks to the surprising wealth and diversity of the holdings, exhibits from the museum can frequently be encountered in prominent positions on the exhibition scene. A wide range of themes can be covered by the museum’s own holdings. Due to the temporary closure of the Neue Residenz for the expansion of the ‘Belvedere Salzburg’ and general renovation, our site will remain open under the title ‘Salzburg Museum – Gastspiel’ with its collections on display at various locations. A long-overlooked cultural and historical treasure – the Sattler Panorama and its associated cosmoramas – was successfully brought back into the spotlight with the opening of the Panorama Museum in 2005 and will find a new home from 2026 in the ‘Orangery Salzburg Panorama | World Heritage’.