MAK presents an exceptional collection of precious arts and crafts from five centuries, as well as regular temporary exhibitions in applied art, design and architecture.
Opened in 1864 as the Imperial Austrian Museum of Art and Industry, the MAK Museum is still one of the world’s most important museums of its kind. It stands for the ever-evolving connection between past and future and counts the interplay of applied art, design, architecture, and contemporary art among its core interests.
The permanent collection, in particular, comprises priceless works from various stylistic eras, making the MAK worth a visit year-round.
Art and design from Vienna’s fin de siècle period are at the heart of the MAK’s permanent collection. Artists of the Secession movement like Adolf Loos and other proponents of Modernism like architect Otto Wagner get their time in the spotlight at MAK. Vienna 1900 is marked by a new interest in the functionality and the perfectionism of striving for a “Gesamtkunstwerk.”
The MAK’s collection of precious glassware and bobbin lace is both beautiful and sizeable. Especially Venetian glass, of which the museum has plenty, is considered among the finest and most varied in the world. All of this reflects the Baroque and Rococo tastes for the opulent and expensive.
Of course, a Viennese design museum would not be complete without a wealth of Art Nouveau pieces to wow visitors. The display includes an overview of a hundred years of Thonet furniture production, which is as inseparable from Austrian culture as Mozart, or Sachertorte. Chairs have never been more fascinating!
Biedermeier, the result of a growing middle class in the mid-1800s, was characterized by clean lines, practical design, and sparing ornamentation. The MAK’s collection of furniture and decor shows Austrian Biedermeier at its best through chairs, silverware, cabinets, and precious decorative cups.
The opulent mosaic at the Palais Stoclet in Brussels is one of the outstanding art achievements around 1900 and one of Gustav Klimt’s major works. Created in the sense of a “Gesamtkunstwerk”, the monumental meter-long design drawing was executed using gold leaf, silver leaf and platinum leaf. It also provides several notes for the Wiener Werkstätte craftspeople who completed it.
These drawings for the Stoclet Frieze are on permanent display at the MAK as part of the exhibition Vienna 1900. Following several years of restoration, the existing nine parts of the illustrations provide in-depth insight into Klimt’s working process.
The MAK stands for the fruitful combination of the past with the future, something which can be clearly sensed when visiting their special exhibitions, showcasing outstanding positions in the fields of art, design, and architecture.
Selection of current exhibitions:
GLITZ AND GLAMOUR
200 Years of Lobmeyr
7.6.2023—24.9.2023
THE 1873 VIENNA WORLD’S FAIR REVISITED
Egypt and Japan as Europe’s “Orient”
28.6.2023—22.10.2023
Whether you’re in the mood for coffee, brunch, a snack, dinner, or just a drink at the bar - Salonplafon has it all and is an absolute marvel to visit. You will find delicious, high-quality foods & beverages accompanied by the most beautiful ambience, fitting the architecture and style of the building.
With high coffered ceilings and a modern and well-thought-through interior design, the restaurant, despite its size, appears incredibly cosy and invites you to linger and enjoy the atmosphere.
