The Heidi Horten Collection: A Museum as a Gift to Vienna

Curator Véronique Abpurg describes the museum as “not just a space to exhibit art; it is a living dialogue between past and present, inviting visitors to engage in new contextualisations” This sentiment underscores the museum’s mission to make art accessible while fostering dynamic discussions about its evolving significance.

From Private Collection to Public Institution

Following the passing of her husband, Heidi Horten sought a new purpose and found it in the world of art. She began acquiring art in the early 1990s at an auction in Tel Aviv, where she was drawn to Marc Chagall, whose works she knew from her husband’s collection. A true breakthrough came two years later at a London auction of modern masters. A New York Times article from the time questioned who this woman with “superb artistic taste and lots of money” was, as she acquired 30 top-tier works in a single evening. A crucial figure in the early years of her collecting was Agnes Husslein-Arco, then a representative of Sotheby’s in Austria and expert for modern and contemporary art, who accompanied Mrs. Horten in her collecting journey and later became the museum’s director.

Heidi Horten did not purchase art for speculative reasons but because she wanted to live with it. In her luxurious residences in Vienna, in Carinthia at her beautiful lakeside residence, London, New York, and the French Riviera, modern and contemporary art seamlessly blended with traditional furnishings. Her collection had an open profile—she simply bought what she liked. One of her favorite paintings was Chagall’s Les Amoureux, depicting the artist with his wife, Bella Rosenfeld. Photographs of her homes reveal an eclectic taste, where Basquiat and Warhol’s works hung alongside Rothko and pieces by Emil Nolde. If a piece was loaned for an exhibition, it had to be immediately replaced with another. As Véronique Abpurg noted, “She just wanted to live surrounded by art.... And she was attracted to many different art movements, such as German Expressionism, Pop Art, German and Italian Abstract Art, and later, Contemporary Art .”

A Vision Realized: The Heidi Horten Museum

Heidi Horten lived a rather private life – however, after discussions with Agnes Husslein-Arco, the idea emerged to showcase her collection in its entirety. The first major museum exhibition took place at the Leopold Museum in Vienna in 2018 and was a massive success, attracting 360,000 visitors. This led Heidi Horten to decide to establish a permanent museum space in Vienna as a gift to her hometown.

The museum officially opened in June 2022 in the city center, near the Burggarten and the State Opera, yet discretly nestled within a quiet courtyard. The 1914 building underwent a complete renovation, transforming into a modern museum within just two years.

The museum’s ground floor houses the permanent exhibition Klimt⇄Warhol. Its unconventional wall décor, featuring furniture and artworks, reflects the private origin of the collection. Curator Véronique Apburg explains, “We asked artist Markus Schinwald to create a playful counterpart to the traditional white cube because, while the white cube is a 20th-century invention, art has historically been part of living spaces for much longer. Since the origin of this collection is deeply personal, we wanted to incorporate elements that reference this private setting.”

Among the exhibited works are masterpieces by Klimt, Nolde, and Magritte, as well as a significant selection of pop art, including Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Basquiat. The collection also features abstract art from the late 1940s to the 1960s, with notable pieces by Fontana, and works from the Zero movement, including Mack and Piene. The museum’s architectural design allows for the display of large-scale canvases, including Yves Klein’s first Sponge Relief.

First Exhibitions and Curatorial Vision

The first exhibitions at the museum drew exclusively from Horten’s private collection and aimed to provide insight into her personality. The Look exhibition connected haute couture dresses—such as Dior and Yves Saint Laurent—with female portraits from Bacon to Warhol, the „male gaze“ was juxtaposed with works by young contemporary female artists, such as Michèle Pagel with her bullet bra made of bricks.

The Rendezvous exhibition focused on French artists from the collection and explored Horten’s lifestyle on the French Riviera. Later exhibitions began incorporating loans from important private and public institutions. One exhibition on light art expanded to include sound and other sensory elements, featuring pieces by Finnbogi Pétursson and Helga Griffiths, whose installation evoked the scent of a Syrian refugee’s hometown. The site specific work by Lena Henke in the museum’s tea room connects the fragrance of horses and perfumes with the history of the site, which once housed a Habsburg winter riding school.

The museum continues its acquisitions, focusing on contemporary art and Austrian artists while expanding the representation of existing artists and creating dialogues with works already in the collection. Looking ahead, the Heidi Horten Collection is preparing a series of thought-provoking exhibitions to expand its curatorial scope. One upcoming highlight is an exploration of German and Austrian Expressionism, featuring works by Egon Schiele and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner alongside filmic works of this era. Another anticipated exhibition, The Line, will investigate the role of the line in both historical drawings and contemporary installations, following the line into the 3dimensional space. Additionally, the museum is set to debut a thematic exhibition on representations of animals in art, examining how different periods and styles have depicted the natural world.

Through these dynamic exhibitions and ongoing acquisitions, the Heidi Horten Museum remains committed to challenging perspectives, fostering new artistic dialogues, and engaging audiences with immersive experiences that transcend time and tradition.

Another key pillar of the museum’s mission is art education, an aspect that was especially important to its founder. She believed in making art accessible and inspiring the next generation by eliminating barriers to engagement. This commitment continues today through diverse educational programs, guided tours, and interactive initiatives that invite visitors of all ages to explore art in an open and inclusive way.