VIENNA.- In its major autumn exhibition, the ALBERTINA Museum has set out to stage a highly charged encounter between modernism and Gothic art. The spotlight here is on masterpieces ranging from symbolism to expressionism that take inspiration from medieval art’s emotional power.

"Modernism is usually understood as a radical new beginning and a break with tradition. What is surprising, however, is that modernist artists also looked to historical models, albeit ones that predate the academic tradition, namely works from the Middle Ages and the Gothic period. It is precisely this unusual perspective on modernism that is at the heart of Gothic Modern, an exhibition created in a joint research project with the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki and the National Museum in Oslo. It brings modern and Gothic works into direct dialogue with each other and also reveals how contemporary and innovative Gothic art was already in terms of form and expression," says Ralph Gleis, Director General of the ALBERTINA and curator of the exhibition.

Modernism was, above all, a radical break with the long-dominant academic tradition—and concurrent with this break, many artists turned their gaze to a far earlier era: the Gothic period. In medieval art, they discovered subjects, motifs, and forms of expression that aligned more closely with their own search for truth than did the norms taught at the academies. In Gothic works, they found reflections of much that stirred them most deeply. Themes such as love and sexuality, death and grief, and faith and doubt as well as engagement with social roles and identities had already been present in the Middle Ages and continued to be of central significance in the art of the modern era.

Gothic Modern demonstrates how artists’ recourse to art created prior to the rise of the academic tradition enabled them to forge new creative paths. In doing so, major works by modern artists created between 1875 and 1925 will be placed in direct confrontation with iconic paintings, prints, and sculptures by Old Masters. In this extraordinary juxtaposition of artistic eras, Gothic Modern reveals how modernism was less a fundamental break with the past than it was a movement in which purposeful engagement with the art of the late Middle Ages played a vital role. Unlike the nostalgic backward gaze of romanticism or the reconstructions of historicism, perspectives that were often placed in the service of political or national self-assurance, the focus now lay squarely on art’s inherent aesthetic qualities. Modern artists drew inspiration from the expressive visual language of a style that was perceived as raw and unrefined. Increasingly, they sought to visualize inner states and to process existential crises through their work. In predominantly religious imagery, they encountered profoundly human emotions such as love, suffering, and grief rendered in ways that provided starting points for their own artistic explorations. Further points of fascination were traditional artistic techniques such as woodcut and book art as well as stained glass and tapestry-making, which were now rediscovered and integrated into contemporary art production.

It was particularly in German-speaking and Northern European countries that this recentering of the Gothic aesthetic manifested itself as part of the contemporary artistic outlook. Around 1900, Vienna—an important center of modernism—embodied a vibrant melting pot of these innovative artistic currents and a key node of transnational exchange among artists. Figures such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Käthe Kollwitz, and Edvard Munch exhibited at the Vienna Secession and engaged in fruitful dialogue with the local art scene, while others like Max Beckmann and Helen Schjerfbeck came to Vienna in search of inspiration.

With its approximately 200 works, this large-scale thematic exhibition sheds light on a phenomenon apparent between 1875 and 1925 in which numerous artists—including Paula Modersohn-Becker, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Käthe Kollwitz, Edvard Munch, Egon Schiele, and Helen Schjerfbeck—deliberately sought inspiration in the expressive power of artistic forebears such as Hans Holbein the Younger, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, and Hans Baldung Grien. Encounters with the medieval aesthetic stirred deep emotions and opened up new avenues via which artists could grapple with the fundamental questions of human existence.

Gothic Modern will be on view at the ALBERTINA Museum from 19 September 2025 to 11 January 2026 and will feature numerous international loans alongside works from the museum’s own collection.

Curator: Ralph Gleis
Co-Curator: Julia Zaunbauer
Assistant Curators: Lydia Eder, Nina Eisterer

The exhibition has been initiated by the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki and made in collaboration with them and the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo. It stems from an international research project led by Professor Juliet Simpson (Coventry University) as Guest Curator in partnership with the Ateneum Art Museum in 2018.

The exhibition architecture was designed in collaboration with BWM Architecture & Design.

A comprehensive 292-page catalogue published by Hirmer Verlag to accompany the exhibition will feature numerous illustrations and written contributions by Ralph Gleis, Stephan Kemperdick, Marja Lahelma, Juliet Simpson, Vibeke Waallann Hansen, and Julia Zaunbauer.