In autumn 2022, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna is focusing on an exhibition topic never before discussed: The competitions that artists have among themselves and with long-deceased role models "Idols & Rivals. Artists in Competition" shows key works from the museum's own collection together with a selection of around 60 important loan items from international museums – the Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and others. The exhibition includes works by Michelangelo, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, and Benvenuto Cellini. Many of the exhibited paintings and sculptures can be seen in Austria for the first time.

Show all pictures

1 /of 6

6 pictures

From antiquity to 1800

Competition and competitive thinking are very familiar to us nowadays – they are to be found everywhere in business, in sport, and in many other areas of life. Less known is that these topics were already decisive for artists of the Early Modern period. The exhibition traces numerous artistic confrontations from antiquity to the time around 1800, and compares rival works with each other. In any case, competitive struggles gave rise to some of the most important works.

As the name suggests, the exhibition is not just about the great rivals of art history, but also about idols: Topics such as appreciation and admiration, like that between the Italian Renaissance painters Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana, are also addressed.

The exhibition also has an interactive section: Not only can visitors to the exhibition make their own pictures, but also actively vote on them. The show invites everyone to join the jury and vote on their personal favorites at various stations and on the exhibition website. "Idols & Rivals. Artists in Competition" is on until the beginning of 2023 in the world-famous Picture Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, one of the largest and most important of its kind.

Idols & Rivals. Artists in Competition

September 20, 2022 - January 8, 2023