The Albertina modern, a contemporary art branch of the Albertina Museum, showcases modern, postmodern, and contemporary art across 2,500 m². Its core is the Essl Collection, Austria's most significant collection of post-1945 Austrian art, featuring influential national and international artists.
The Albertina modern, located in the renovated Künstlerhaus on Karlsplatz, opened in 2020 and is dedicated to modern, postmodern, and contemporary art. It houses the Essl Collection, which is the most significant collection of Austrian art from the second half of the 20th century to the present day. This extensive collection encompasses all major trends in recent Austrian art history, including Fantastic Realism and Viennese Actionism, as well as postmodern and contemporary works. The museum features influential Austrian artists such as Hermann Nitsch, Maria Lassnig, and Valie Export, alongside international greats from the 20th century like Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. While the Essl Collection forms the museum's identity-affirming core, its works are presented through temporary exhibitions, complemented by other special exhibitions exploring contemporary themes in art. The restoration of the historic Künstlerhaus, originally built in the 1860s, provided an appropriate setting for these diverse artistic expressions.
