Vienna days in Kyiv
A unique exhibition has opened at the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts
The Austrian and Ukrainian capitals have been sister cities for 20 years, and the anniversary became the occasion for mayor of Vienna Michael Haeupl to come to Kyiv. He visited the Khanenkos Museum, a school and Vernadsky Library, donating books to the latter two institutions during his stay. A business forum was held at the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) to discuss prospects for cooperation between Austrian and Ukrainian companies. Press service of the KCSA has reminded us of two decades of Austrian investments in Kyiv that brought to the city over 2.7 billion dollars, that is, one-tenth of all foreign investment in the Ukrainian capital. “We have some specific experience that we can share, for example, in transportation and traffic management in a city. We offer cooperation in the fields of education, science, workforce training, and modern technologies, too,” Haeupl said.
The exhibition “Vienna: The History and Style” opened at the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts on November 8.
The Day was told by the museum’s academic secretary Kateryna Chuieva that the new exhibition project would tell the Kyivites about Vienna as a capital of the arts and the city where the imperial grandeur is organically connected to the romance and the imposing greatness goes hand in hand with the intimacy. Emperors, politicians, artists and ordinary Viennese, all of them defined character of the European imperial capital and influenced development of its refined culture. It is the history and culture of the 18th and 19th centuries Vienna as revealed in works of art that is the focus of the exhibition.
The cozy halls of the Khanenkos’ mansion are hosting a display of the museum’s Austrian art collection for the first time. Thus, a gallery of engraved portraits represents people who determined the course of European history. First of all, these were members of the House of Habsburg, in particular, the Emperor Charles VI and his wife Elizabeth Christine, their paired portraits done by famous engraver Gustav Adolf Mueller (1697-1767) and based on the paintings by Jacob van Schuppen (1670-1751), but also Prince Kaunitz-Rietberg, his mezzotint portrait engraved by Ignaz Interberger (1743-97). The famed Vienna engraving series deserves attention, too, picturing the cultural and social life of the city against the backdrop of its renowned architectural masterpieces, the Belvedere, the Schoenbrunn Palace and Park, and the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
The museum’s holdings include a first-class collection of the Imperial Vienna Porcelain Manufactory, one of the most famous porcelain factories in Europe that operated from 1718 through 1864. About 50 porcelain pieces have been selected for the exhibition, including luxurious gold-decorated tea and coffee sets, decorative plates painted with flamboyant compositions, and miniature sculptures.
The exhibition “Vienna: The History and Style” runs through December 9.
