Vienna, Austria While the architecture here usually screams classical, the contents of some of the many art museums can take another turn. We decided to search out some of the more modern installations today.
The Albertina Modern had an interesting exhibit about the introduction of color into photography. By the late 1800’s, a lot of work was being done to find a way to print with color, and none of the techniques were too simple, though some of the results were quite lovely.
It really wasn’t until Kodak introduced color film in the 1930’s that amateur photographers had access to that magic. The technology didn’t reach Europe in any degree till after the war, and then color was everywhere.
A second exhibit in the same building promises a less happy ending as it deals with climate change, with abstract imagery contributed by artists around the world.
Though hardly modern. the neighborhood and the building itself were worthy of note. Such gorgeous temples to art and music were built in Vienna.
We next visited the Museum Quarter, with its large variety of collections. Our goal was the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiflung Ludwig Wien, known familiarly as mumok. It contains one of the largest European collections of modern and contemporary art. But it’s the building itself that commands attention.
It stands like a huge monolith among the repurposed Imperial stable blocks, and would have been an outstanding feature of any medieval fortifications. Welcoming? No. It looms in huge and foreboding darkness and definitely lets you know something different is going on there.
The interior is just as intimidating, with glass floors, glass elevators, and black walls everywhere, kind of an enemy starship theme.
The first exhibit we saw was work by an American woman new to us, Liliane Lijn. She deals with metal and lights, what she calls “energy transfer.” Some of her things move, and all of them are a bit strange. Some are in cages, maybe for our protection?
The next major exhibit dealt with the sixties, and I made the mistake of starting with the most violent and political floor first. I spare you the most disturbing visuals.
Don went on to the two other 60’s floors, which he says were completely benign. I took a scary elevator to the main floor and waited for him. There was something about that building that just seemed too intimidating to visit for long.
Guess I am not cut out for the modern world.
Don’s Food Corner
We took a little refreshment break after the Albertina Modern, with cold drinks and a serving of little Viennese sausages (as opposed to Vienna sausages that are sold in little cans in America). These little things appeared on the children’s menu. But we ordered them anyway and had a good time.
For our main meal, we went to a fancy restaurant near the hotel. This place had a window show of guys breading wiener schnitzel. Now there’s a career. Schnitzel breader. It could be full-time and life-time in Vienna.
Jo ordered the schnitzel, of course. It came with parsley potatoes and a small amount of cranberry sauce. Not completely up to the standards Jo is used to, earning the schnitzel a B.
I tried the chopped veal patty. It was a better version than I had the other day. Much more delicate. This came with the usual mashed potatoes. But also with spinach and, oddly, a hard cooked egg on top. When it arrived, it looked like a hot fudge sundae.
As I’ve mentioned before, it always amuses me when we are dining with Austrians. They study and study the menu — even though there are almost always the same four or five choices no matter the café or restaurant — but then they always order the wiener schnitzel. Maybe it’s something they can’t make at home and so it’s a treat to have it in a restaurant. But it’s the intently serious pondering over those limited choices that seems so hilarious. There is no variety and they don’t seem to want it any other way. Even yesterday when I went to a little hole-in-the-wall Turkish place and had a falafel sandwich, they offered schnitzel in a pita!
There are, of course, all types of restaurants — including Indian, Chinese, Turkish, and even vegan. But the traditional Austrian restaurant, serving those same four or five dishes, dominates. Food variety comes in the form of lots of different dessert options. The array of cakes is astonishing.
I was never a fan of brutalist architecture and your example of the Museum Moderne only reinforced that opinion.
That building makes Brutalist architecture look cozy.
I think Europeans in general are more respectful of the menu and the actual dining experience, whereas north americans are too busy talking to pay attention to the food. But it is funny how long they take to examine their limited variety of choices.
Absolutely agree.