The fates and paths of these collections are diverse; some of them were utterly scattered, others became merged in other collections.

With the return of the Prince of Lichtenstein’s collection to Vienna on 28 March 2004, this almost forgotten aspect of the rich cultural life of Vienna comes into focus again. Thus the idea suggested itself to consider the position of the other extant private collections of the Austrian aristocracy and to integrate them in this return to public attention.

PRIVATE ART COLLECTIONS is a loose association and interchange platform between these collections to organize joint exhibition projects in the future, to assist each other in complementing the respective collections, to make a joint appearance on the international exhibition scene, and to launch other events such as musical concerts.

THE PARTNERS

Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Vaduz / Liechtenstein Museum

The Princely Collections, Vienna

Count Harrach Family Collection, Rohrau, Lower Austria

Schönborn-Buchheim Collection, Schönborn Palace, Göllersdorf, Lower Austria

Esterházy Foundation, Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Forchtenstein Castle, Burgenland

Residenzgalerie Salzburg, Salzburg

Picture Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Paintings from the Schönborn-Buchheim collection will be included in the opening exhibition of the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM.

During the winter half-year, when the Count Harrach Family Collection is closed, objects from the collection will be shown in temporary exhibitions in the Liechtenstein garden palace in the Rossau.

Joint exhibition projects of all partner collections are scheduled as of 2006:

–       Painters under Vesuvius
Artists in Naples and its surroundings from the 17th to the 19th century

–       Oases of Tranquillity
The landscape gardens of Valtice (Feldsberg) and Lednice (Eisgrub), Eisenstadt, Göllersdorf, and Bruck an der Leitha

–     Holland in Rome

–       The Esterházy Art Chamber
Objects from the Esterházy Kunstkammer from Forchtenstein and Hungary reunited

–       Ornamental and Hunting Weapons from the Liechtenstein, Schönborn-Buchheim, and Esterházy Collections

–       Porcelain from Princely Courts
Meissen, Du Paquier, and Sorgenthal

–       Dutch Genre Painting

–       Johann Heinrich Schönfeld

The exhibitions may be shown in one or several partnership venues (including the Vaduz Museum of Art where the Princely Collections are presented in a permanent exhibition).

In a second stage, international partners will be incorporated in the concept, substantially broadening the range of the cultural offering. Negotiations with these collections are currently under way.

With support from the Princely Banking House LGT and sponsored by Olympus Austria, a special website is in preparation to bring the collections participating to the attention of a wider public under the brand of PRIVATE ART COLLECTIONS. In a first step, a link on the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM website will call attention to the partnership; the individual partners will be networked by reciprocal web links.

In marketing, the collections will complement one another. Packages including admission to existing musical events in Eisenstadt and Rohrau, as well as to the golf court in the park of Schönborn Palace in Göllersdorf will make the offering of each institution participating markedly more attractive.

Every visitor holding an admission ticket from one of the PRIVATE ART COLLECTIONS partners will be eligible for the reduced admission price of 5.00 € at the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM.

As part of the MUSEUM NIGHT program, two objects from each participating institution that are indexical of the contents and significance of the respective collection will be presented in the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM.