"Albertina new"

Ralph Gleis: “I want to increase its appeal”

Ralph Gleis is not new to the city: the German was a curator at the Wien Museum from 2009 to 2017.(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER / APA / picturedesk.com)

The newly appointed Albertina General Director Ralph Gleis wants to "rethink and rediscover" the museum and the collection. 18 exhibitions are to help with this in the first year. 

"I love the moments of the beginning," confessed the new Albertina General Director Ralph Gleis, born in 1973, at the presentation of his first annual program. In figures, that means 18 exhibitions at three locations. 12 in the five halls of the Palais, five in the Albertina Modern in the Künstlerhaus and one in the Albertina Klosterneuburg. The art historian, previously director of the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, explains his mission as "to further increase the appeal of one of the most important museums in the world".

Solo exhibitions for six female artists

Large solo exhibitions for Lisette Models and her photos, such as: Lower East Side, New York City, 1940-1947, 34.6 × 27.1 cm, silver gelatin paper(Bild: ALBERTINA, Wien ©️ 2025 Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy Lebon, Paris / Keitelman, Brussels)

In the quarter-century era of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the Albertina "completed the transformation from a graphics cabinet to a much-visited exhibition house", says his successor, who now wants to "go one step further". He wants to turn the Albertina "into an internationally renowned, contemporary museum. The museum has enormous potential for the future thanks to its collections and excellent team."

He divides his vision for "redesigning the Albertina" into five points:

I. Today's themes should make the institution a museum with its finger on the pulse of the times. Gleis' affinity for themed exhibitions is striking. A proud six female artists are also given their own presentations.

Albrecht Dürer, Head of the Angel Playing the Lute (detail from the "Feast of the Rosary"), 1506, brush in gray and black, gray wash, heightened with opaque white, on blue paper.(Bild: Albertina Wien)

II The aim is to strengthen international networks through exhibition and research collaborations. For example, with a research project on material technology in Dürer's work together with Berlin and Weimar. Ultimately, a new catalog of the drawings will be published for Dürer's 550th birthday in 2028 to accompany the major commemorative exhibition.

III. International and more local joint projects are to be promoted. For example, the first show at the Palais, the pairing of the Canadian shooting star Matthew Wong, who voluntarily retired from life in2019 at the age of 35, with his role model Vincent van Gogh, is a collaboration with Amsterdam and Zurich.

Richard Neuhauss, Parrot, 1899, 8.3 cm x 6.4 cm, interference color photograph(Bild: Dauerleihgabe der Höheren Graphischen Bundes-Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt © Foto: ALBERTINA, Wien)

Albertina Highlights 2025

"True Colors. Color in Photography from 1849 to 1955", Albertina Modern, from 24. 1.

"Matthew Wong - Vincent van Gogh. Last Refuge Painting", Albertina, from 14. 2.

"Leonardo - Dürer. Renaissance master drawings on colored ground", Albertina, from 7. 3.

"Remix. From Gerhard Richter to Katharina Grosse", Albertina Modern, from 11. 4.

"Damien Hirst. Drawings", Albertina Modern, from 7. 5.

"The Viennese Bohème. Works of the Hagen Society", Albertina, from 25. 7.

"Lisette Model, Retrospective", Albertina, from 31. 10.

IV. The fourth pillar is the expansion of collection-based research, because, according to Gleis: "We are the national competence center for paper."

V. Finally, the desire for increased "dialog with society". This goes hand in hand with an outreach campaign and an expanded digital strategy. With the aim of improving accessibility "to discover the museum and the collection".