The Albertina Museum : Director's Choice

The largest of the Hapsburg residential palaces, The Albertina in Vienna provides a stunning home to one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world. Named after its founder, passionate art collector Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (1738-1822), the priceless collection comprises 50,000 drawings and watercolours and some 900,000 prints ranging from the late Gothic period to contemporary art. Here visitors can see world-famous works by da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael as well as Durer, Rubens, Rembrandt and Cezanne. The modern collection contains a vibrant array of works from a diverse range of artists: from Schiele, Klimt, Picasso and Pollock to Warhol, Katz, Baselitz and Kiefer. An extraordinary treasure trove of visual knowledge, The Albertina has also been gathering photographs since the mid-19th century, and holds around 50,000 plans, sketches and models in its Architecture Collection. This small volume showcases the highlights from this vast collection, as chosen by its Director.