All the Histories of Art

From the 3rd of October 2008 until the 18th of January 2009, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents All the Histories of Art: Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the first and most comprehensive and innovative show ever presented in Spain about the collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, one of the oldest museums in the world.

With a selection of almost 200 works and around one hundred artists ranging from Egypt and the ancient world to the 18th century, the show, which has been generously sponsored by Iberdrola, is divided into six major sections that correspond to the main artistic genres in art history. However, these genres are not limited solely to the examples provided by what are traditionally called the "major arts", as they also include samples of the art dubbed "industrial", "sumptuary" or "decorative".

Curated by Carmen Giménez, 20th Century Art Conservator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and Francisco Calvo Serraller, Professor of Art History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the exhibition features works by great masters such as Arcimboldo, Dürer, Holbein, Tintoretto, Titian, Rubens, Velázquez and others. It is especially relevant given the common shared history between Austria and Spain and the cultural and artistic mark that the Habsburg dynasty left on both countries.

All the Histories of Art presents such disparate works as paintings, works from the ancient world, coins, armour, sculptures and objects from what were called cabinets of curiosities (Kunstkammern), which give insight into the taste of the Hapsburg emperors and archdukes, avid collectors and sponsors of the arts for over five centuries. The entire third floor of the museum will house a painstakingly culled selection of 197 works, which revolve around the main artistic genres in art history according to a more up-to-date discourse: portraiture; history, religion and mythology; the nude; everyday scenes; still lifes; and landscapes. All of these genres are illustrated with a fascinating juxtaposition of paintings and objects.

All the Histories of Art
Sammlung Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien
Kuratoren: Carmen Gimenez, Francisco Calvo Serraller

Künstler: Guiseppe Arcimboldo, Albrecht Dürer, Tintoretto, Tizian, Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velázquez ...