Vienna, ALBERTINA MODERN: »Pictorialism. Art Photography around 1900«

Is Photography Art?

Vienna around 1900: photography had already made rapid technical progress, but at this time only very few recognized its artistic potential. The ALBERTINA in Vienna illuminates in Pictorialism. Art Photography around 1900 the beginnings of a network that sought to elevate photography to the status of fine art. The exhibition opens on February 3, 2023.

February 03, 2023
Heinrich Kühn, Der Sonnenschirm, 1912
ALBERTINA, Wien
Heinrich Kühn, Der Sonnenschirm, 1912, Autochrom

In the 19th century, photography served primarily for documentation; only a few saw artistic potential in it. In Vienna, a network developed around Heinrich Kühn that established international connections and made it its mission to put photography on an equal footing with the fine arts. The ALBERTINA in Vienna is now dealing in detail with this groundbreaking chapter in art history for the first time. The exhibition Pictorialism. Art Photography around 1900 can be seen at the ALBERTINA MODERN from February 3 to April 26, 2023.

Art photography experienced its first peak in the 1920s. One of its well-known representatives in Vienna was Rudolf Koppitz, a student at the former k.u.k. (imperial and royal) Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna. Art photography was initially oriented toward compositional teachings of painting, but increasingly found its own form of expression. The so-called pictorialism also had a significant influence on commercial portrait photography.Art.Salon

Rudolf Koppitz, Bewegungsstudie, 1926
ALBERTINA, Wien, Dauerleihgabe der Höheren Graphischen Bundes-Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt
Rudolf Koppitz, Bewegungsstudie, 1926, Gummidruck

Dive deeper into the art world

Efraim Habermann

With city views of Berlin, Efraim Habermann became known to a broad public as a photographer in the 1960s. His works are characterized early on by a distinctive, concise style and unusual perspectives. Today, after a 50-year creative phase, he has an extensive body of photographic work, consistently in black and white, with numerous series from Israel, Venice and Berlin, still lifes, portraits and photographic collages. Habermann's »pearls«, his mostly constructivist watercolors, geometric forms in strong colors, finely balanced into a postcard-sized composition, seem almost like a commentary on his own conception of the image. An extensive exhibition of works from the artist's private archive can now be seen in Berlin from mid-February.

by Felix Brosius, February 04, 2023
Retrospective in Berlin

In the exhibition Efraim Habermann - Photography and Watercolor, artnow Gallery, which is associated with art.salon, presents a comprehensive exhibition of the photographs and watercolors of Berlin-based artist Efraim Habermann.

by Felix Brosius, February 04, 2023