Arts & Culture

Did you now the Library has great travel book collections?  Most can be borrowed from your local branch but the Toronto Reference Library also has an extensive book collection to use there only (as well as a superb map collection on the 4th floor). These came in very handy for my trip to Vienna this summer.  Personally, I like a combination of the higher end Fodor's/Frommer's guides with the more affordable Let's Go / Rough Guides topped off by the visual appeal of the Eye Witness series. 

We are staying at a hotel in the Spittelberg Quarter which is just north of the museums I mention below. It's a very charming area – lots of older buildings, cobblestone laneways and it reminds me of the Marais District in Paris 20 years ago. Below is the view from our room.

The first site we visited was the Leopold Museum, which is part of the MuseumsQuartier, or MQ, housed in what was formerly the Imperial Court Stables.  Composed of 3 different museums and housed in strikingly modern architecture this area is hopping with events, people and cafes – not to mention some fantastic art collections.  The Leopold was formerly a private collection and contains one of the best gatherings of works by Egon Schiele , not to mention significant holdings of Gustav Klimt and other major 20th century Austrian artists.

Many people are likely familiar with the nude drawings, sexually charged paintings and various portraits painted by Egon Schiele (both self portraits and also others).  What was eye opening for me were his city scapes of buildings and also his country and landscape works. There have been many books written about Schiele and his art and the images from his paintings are extremely striking.  His circumstances were quite tragic – his wife, who was pregnant with their first child, died of the Spanish Flu and he died 3 days later.

The Leopold Museum also has several Gustav Klimt paintings including some landscapes which are less well known than his portraits and paintings of people.  They also have one of his major figure works Death and Life 1910/1915. The two dates reflect an interesting aspect of his work in so far as he would often rework a piece even after it had been exhibited as he did with this piece.  The more extensive collection of Klimt paintings are in the Belvedere Palace Collection also in Vienna.

It was an exciting first couple of days in Vienna. I have not yet had a piece of the famous Viennese cake Sacher torte but I will soon.