Anniversary Exhibition
marking the 150th Birthdays of Arnold Schönberg & Karl Kraus
January 17 – May 10, 2024
“I learned how to write, and even almost how to think, from you.”
(Schönberg to Kraus, 1911)
“It is remarkable and significant that these two men both emerged out of the Austrian decadence in 1874 – both of them destined to cause a truly salutary disturbance of vital importance to European culture.” (Ernst Krenek, 1934)
The anniversary exhibition at the Arnold Schönberg Center explores the origins, parallels, discontinuities and ruptures of this disturbance by following two decisive innovators of Viennese Modernism.
Advocating progress in music, Schönberg embodied the courage to break with conventions. In keeping with the interdisciplinary orientation of Viennese Modernism, the composer also expressed himself as a writer and painter. As a censor of language, Kraus fought an unrelenting battle against corrupting newspaper phrases, double standards and esthetic uniformity. The two jubilarians were united by an unspoken understanding of artistic and social matters, and by a shared ethical
program which aimed at a claim to truth in all areas of art.
Featuring music manuscripts, texts, paintings and drawings, as well as letters and photographs, the exhibition retraces the points of contact between Schönberg and Kraus over more than three decades, accompanied by like-minded artists from architecture, literature, painting and music. Digitally animated scores, film clips and voices from the past take visitors on a journey into an only ostensibly lost world.
Curator: Therese Muxeneder
Architecture: Jochen Koppensteiner
Digital realization: Christoph Edtmayr
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm
closed on legal holidays and on March 29, 2024
Special opening day on the occasion of the 150th birthday of Karl Kraus: April 28, 2024, 11am – 7pm
Entrance fee
Adults € 6
Discount: senior citizens, visitors with special needs, groups, Vienna City Card
Free admission
children and young people 26 and under
Press photos:
