Aesthetics of Change #1

The exhibition "AESTHETICS OF CHANGE: 150 Years of the University of Applied Arts" at the MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art casts a glance back onto 150 years of the University's history and dares also a look into the future. In 1867 the School of Arts and Crafts was established at the Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (today's MAK) to enable Austrian arts and crafts to compete internationally. This school is the antecedent institution of today's University of Applied Arts Vienna.
I was especially interested in the (small) part of the exhibition dedicated to the University's fashion department. The black and white skirt in this photo was a part of a dance costume and designed by Oskar Kokoschka in 1907/08. Kokoschka studied at the University of Applied Arts from 1904 to1909 and then teached there in 1912/13.

Oskar Kokoschka

In front of the University of Applied Arts Vienna you can find a bust of Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), an Austrian artist, poet and playwright best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes. At the beginning of the 20th century, Oskar Kokoschka was a student of the “K.k. Kunstgewerbeschule des Museums für Kunst und Industrie”, as the University was called at the time; later on he was a member of the teaching staff. In 1998 the “Oskar Kokoschka Centre” was founded - it comprehends a research library, a photographic collection, archives, and, since 2005, the private library of Oskar and Olda Kokoschka.

MuseumsQuartier 6

This is the second modern building at MuseumsQuartier, it houses the Leopold Museum which shows masterpieces of Austrian art of the first half of the 20th century. It contains the largest Egon Schiele collection in the world, and it features also artists such as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and Richard Gerstl.