Belvedere 21

Schloss Belvedere to the Canal


The modernist, glass-and-steel Austria Pavilion, designed by Karl Schwanzer for Expo 58 in Brussels, has been reborn as Belvedere 21, with exhibitions devoted to 20th- and 21st-century art, predominantly with an Austrian focus. Adolf Krischanitz left his clean aesthetic imprint on the light-filled, open-plan gallery, which sits just south of the Oberes Belvedere in the Schweizergarten.

The gallery's dynamic approach embraces an artist-in-residence scheme and a changing rota of contemporary exhibitions. On permanent display is a peerless collection of sculptures by Viennese artist Fritz Wotruba (1907–75), many of which deconstruct the human form into a series of abstract, geometric shapes that have more than an element of cubism about them.

Top-ranking and often thought-provoking rotating exhibitions of art, photography and sculpture also feature.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Schloss Belvedere to the Canal attractions

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