Universalmuseum Joanneum: Neue Galerie

The Neue Galerie Graz stands in the Joanneumsviertel, a modern museum quarter in the centre of Graz. It occupies part of the former Landesbildergalerie, which opened in 1811 and was split in 1941 into an Old and a New Gallery. The building itself is the Baroque Palais Herberstein, remodelled in the mid-18th century by Josef Hueber for the Eggenberg princes and later the Herberstein counts. After the Second World War the first director, Hans Riehl, secured the palace’s future by converting it into a museum. The gallery moved to its present site in 2011 when it merged with the Kunsthaus Graz to form the department of Modern and Contemporary Art. The gallery’s programme focuses on contemporary art from Austria and abroad. It has given early exposure to artists who later became major figures, including Félix González-Torres, Pipilotti Rist and Olafur Eliasson. Regular personal retrospectives highlight mid-career Austrian artists such as Erwin Wurm and Günter Brus. A studio space provides a platform for emerging Austrian artists not yet established in the art world. The Hofgalerie displays early 20th-century Austrian artists like Ida Maly and Lily Greenham whose work is otherwise little known. Each year three international artists take part in the residency programme, creating new work shown publicly in Graz. Visitors find spacious galleries arranged around a central courtyard. The collection spans paintings, sculptures, photographs, digital media and installations from the early 19th century to today. Changing exhibitions explore themes such as Fluxus, Concept Art and the human figure. The building’s high ceilings and natural light allow large-scale works to be displayed to best effect. Outside, the Joanneumsviertel links the gallery to the city’s other cultural venues, making it easy to move between exhibitions and cafés.